Kingdom Of Dreams Pt 1A
by Vampiresanddemons
Summary: Miyo Richards is an average girl, with an average school life, and average friends. Or so she thinks. When a mysterious force transports her and her friends to a strange land filled with danger at every turn, it is up to the strength within each of them to keep them alive. The land of Hethron awaits.
1. Prologue

**Prologue: The Tale Of The Brother Of Light And The Brother Of Darkness**

A long time ago there were two brothers, one of light and one of darkness. All loved the brother of light as he used his strength and magic to help the people of his land. The people of the land, however, shunned the brother of darkness; they feared his dark aura and power. Even when the brother of darkness did good deeds the people would turn to the brother of light for assistance.

With each passing day the brother of darkness never grew to hate his brother, but no matter what he did, no matter how many people he saved, every single person feared him and loved his brother. He had always loved and admired his brother, and as far as he knew his brother loved him just as equally, if not more.

One day a fierce dragon attacked the brothers' kingdom, destroying many of the villagers' homes. Both the brother of light and the brother of darkness stood against the dragon. The brother of light used his strength and powerful pure magic to attack the dragon's head and tail while the brother of darkness used his cunning and merciless dark magic to assault the dragon's massive body. The dragon, tired of the brothers' attempts to destroy it, swung its tail and knocked the brother of light unconscious. A thin line of blood ran down his face where the end of the dragon's tail had hit him.

Upon seeing his brother hurt the brother of darkness screamed in fury. He charged the dragon with all his might, only to get knocked back by the dragon's claws. The brother of darkness sailed across the air and crashed through a window. Without pause the brother of darkness rose to his feet and hopped back through the window, glaring at the dragon with a thin line of blood running down the opposite side of his face than that of his brother.

Once again the brother of darkness screamed, but this time he raised into the air, staring at the dragon his eyes turned from a clear blue to a deep crimson. The dragon, seemingly unfazed by the transformation, stared back at the brother of darkness with its eyes shining. A black aura gathered around the brother of darkness as he raised his right arm and summoned a black pentagram onto the ground in front of the beast. A bright flash erupted from the pentagram and hit the dragon with enormous force. The blast sent the dragon rearing on its hind legs, snarling in anger. The brother of darkness chanted a dark spell and soon a black spear pierced the dragon's heart with blackness. The dragon fell to the earth, dead.

The brother of light rose to his feet, wiping the blood from his face as he slowly walked toward his brother. Gently the brother of light reached out to touch the brother of darkness. The brother of darkness recoiled from his brother and readied himself with another spell. The brother of light did not flinch as he prepared to take his brother's attack at full force.

Upon seeing his brother the brother of darkness lowered his hand, the dark red of his eyes returned to their natural blue. The brother of light smiled slightly as he reached to put his hand on his brother's shoulder. The brother of darkness' feet touched the ground as the brother of light's warm hand rested lightly on his shoulder. The brother of darkness tried to explain what had happened as the brother of light dabbed at the cut on his forehead. The brother of darkness stared at the blood dripping from the cut on the brother of light's head, as he told him not to blame himself for his outrage.

After some time both of the brothers' heads stopped bleeding and the villagers came out of their homes. The villagers were even more terrified of the brother of darkness now than they had been before, the women screamed in horror as their eyes fell on the carcass of the dragon, and the men circled around the brothers prepared to defend themselves. The brother of light tried to explain to the villagers that the brother of darkness had saved them all from the dragon but they continued to spite him.

The brother of darkness was so taken back by the way the villagers shunned him after he had risked everything to save them that he started baking away from the villagers and his brother. They had always liked his brother better than he and they never feared his magic or power. Rage crept into the brother of darkness once again as these thoughts passed through his mind. Now he not only felt hatred for the villagers but for the brother of light as well. Everything was always so perfect for his brother and he had to deal with being hated his entire life. It was not fair, why was he so different from his brother? What was it that made his brother more special than he? Why?

The brother of darkness turned his back on them all, he did not need the villagers to accept him or his powers and he did not need his brother's pity either. Both the brother of light and the brother of darkness were equal in power and in strength but the brother of darkness was going to change that, he was going to do everything in his power to become stronger. He had to get stronger, he was going to show everyone in the land of Hethron that he was better than the brother of light and if they feared him for it then so be it. No longer was he going to be trapped in his brother's shadow, no longer would he be bothered by what others thought of him.

The brother of darkness turned back and looked at the brother of light right in his eyes, tears streamed down his face as he turned and ran out of the village. The brother of light called out and ran after him, but when he got out of the village he could not see his brother anywhere. For thirteen days and thirteen nights the brother of light searched for the brother of darkness. On the morning of the fourteenth day he returned to the village without his brother.

As the brother of light walked slowly into the village tears fell from his eyes, he had failed his brother, he could not protect him from the views of the villagers and he could not deny the fact that he had slain the dragon on his own. The brother of light had never feared his brother or his power and still did not after what had happened. He knew he had to find his brother; he needed to know if he was okay.

The villagers, on the other hand, were overjoyed to be rid of the brother of darkness. Everyone in the village was full of happiness and greeted the brother of light with pure joy. They thought it was he who had driven the brother of darkness out of the village.

For seven months the brother of light hoped and prayed that the brother of darkness would return to the village, and that they would pick up their lives where they left off before that faithful day when they fought the dragon. As the years passed the brother of light lost all hope of ever seeing his brother again.

After the brother of darkness left the village he ran until he made it to the mountain range two hundred miles away from the village. Even when he heard the brother of light calling after him he did not stop until he collapsed against the cold stones and rocks of the mountain. When the brother of darkness awoke hatred filled him once more. He used that hatred to build himself a caste at the very top of the tallest mountain in the area.

In the five years that he was gone the brother of darkness trained his senses and his body for the day that he would get revenge against the villagers and the brother of light. Day after day he trained and every once in a while he could hear the brother of light calling for him. The brother of darkness sneered to himself because he knew that with each day the brother of light spent searching for him he was getting stronger.

The brother of darkness shielded himself from the brother of light for five years and on the anniversary of the day the brother of darkness left his village he waged war on the brother of light.

The brother of light was looking out across the land when he saw the brother of darkness walk calmly into the village. The brother of light was so overjoyed that he ran out of his castle to greet the brother of darkness but before he reached him he had set fire to the entire village.

When the brother of darkness saw the brother of light he fired several dark energy balls at him. The brothers fought for hours, some even say days, before the brother of light fell to the brother of darkness. The brother of darkness did not kill the brother of light but instead left him lay where he fell. To this day the war between the brother of light and the brother of darkness wages on, no one knows if or when it will ever end.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

"Miss Richards…Miss Richards…" Professor Simonson called out to his class. Snickers floated around the classroom with all eyes glued on Miyo Richards. The young woman had a head of flowing black hair that draped a few inches below her shoulders. She had her vibrant green eyes glued to a warn brown book, unaware of the laughing of the students and the calls of Professor Simonson.

"Miss Richards!" Professor Simonson snapped.

Miyo slammed her book and jumped out of her seat as she replied, "Yes sir!"

Laughter filled the classroom and echoed down the hallway.

Four rooms down Chase Devin leaned back in his seat and glanced at Tisha Stevens with a slight grin and laughed, "Sounds like Miyo is having problems with Simonson again."

Tisha sighed as she propped her head up on her right arm and stated, "I warned her about reading that book in class but she never listens."

Chase's hazel eyes met Tisha's green eyes as he turned in his seat and asked, "What's the deal with that book anyway? It seems like it's always getting her in trouble one way or another, and she reads it all the time."

Tisha sighed again as she answered simply, "It was her grandma's, the only reason she reads it is because of that one story about the two brothers."

"Oh yeah, isn't that the story about the twins who use magic and one of them is good and the other is evil, or something like that? Chase questioned.

"Yeah, it is." Tisha answered back.

"Miss Stevens, Mr. Devin, is there something you would like to share with the class?" Mrs. Leon asked sternly pushing a few strands of her chocolate colored hair behind her ear.

"No ma'am." the two replied in unison turning their attention back to her.

Back in Professor Simonson's classroom the laughter had died down.

"Please sit down Miss Richards, and put that book away." Professor Simonson stated coolly as he turned his back on the class and continued writing on the board.

Miyo slumped back into her seat as she carefully packed her book into her backpack. Seven minutes later the doors to the classroom flew open as the final bell rang, signaling the end of the day.

"Remember students, you have a test next week so study this weekend." Professor Simonson called after the students already running out the door. He was sitting in his chair and knew they would not but tried reminding them anyway as he watched them disappear out the door. "Miss Richards, may I see you for a minute?" he asked before she walked out the door.

She sighed and walked over to his desk, already prepared for her regular lecture. "I caught you reading that book four times this week, is it really more important than your education?" Professor Simonson asked sternly.

"No sir." Miyo stated quietly.

"Then why do you constantly feel the need to read it every time I turn my back?" he asked rising from his chair and walking around his desk to stand in front of Miyo.

Miyo did not respond as she looked down and shifted her eyes across the floor, she hated to be scolded when the reason for it was her grandmother's book. She could not describe the reason she had for always wanting to read the book, but she always read one story in particular. Professor Simonson breathed deep as he reached out and took Miyo's chin between his finger and thumb. Miyo's breath caught in her throat as she brought her emerald eyes up to look at Professor Simonson, his black hair falling ever so slightly in front of his hazel eyes.

"You know I don't like to snap at you, and I get so angry when the other students laugh at you." he said gently.

Professor Simonson began to lean closer to Miyo, his eyes burning holes into hers.

Miyo pulled away from him as she stammered, "I…I have to go Professor, excuse me." and she ran out the door.

Professor Simonson looked after her and smiled as the door closed gently.

"Why…why did he do that?" Miyo thought as she ran down the stairs to the first floor.

Before she left the building she turned and looked back up the stairs, half expecting Professor Simonson to be running after her. She had heard about teachers making passes at their students but she never imagined that she would have to deal with it herself. Miyo walked out the front door to see Tisha and Chase waiting for her.

"Hey girl, did you get punished by Simonson again?" Tisha asked with a laugh.

Miyo's face reddened as she stated, "What, what do you mean by that? He didn't do…anything."

Chase laughed as he said, "Whoa Miyo, she didn't mean it literally. Jeez, calm down."

The three started walking down the sidewalk away from the school as Miyo sulked, "So you heard?"

Tisha smiled as she threw her arm around Miyo's shoulder and replied, "Yeah, the whole school heard it again."

Miyo sighed again as Tharin Stevens, Tisha's younger brother, walked around the corner ahead of them and yelled, "Hey! What's taking you guys so long? I could have been home and back again!"

After sharing a look the three broke into a run to meet up with him and when she was close enough Tisha threw her arms around him and said, "Hey little brother! Sorry, Simonson had to spank Miyo again."

"Oh yeah, I heard the laughing on the first floor. I figured it was Miyo's fault again." Tharin laughed.

Miyo dropped her head and quickened her pace so that she was walking ahead of Tisha, Tharin, and Chase.

"Nice going Tisha, you know she hates it when you tease her like that." Chase said with a frown.

"I don't get it; she usually just laughs it off when you talk about Simonson like that.' Tharin stated.

The three stopped dead, their eyes growing huge as they looked at each other then after Miyo. Miyo heard their footsteps stop and turned around to see them staring at her.

"What? Guys come on, what's wrong?" Miyo asked nervously.

Miyo walked back to them and Chase questioned coldly, "Miyo, he didn't…please tell me he didn't."

"God Miyo, I swear if he did anything to you I'm going to…" Tisha started before Miyo broke her off, "He didn't do anything to me. All he said was that I need to stop reading my grandmother's book in his class. That's it, nothing else happened."

Tisha sighed as she hugged Miyo and whispered, "I'm sorry, we shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that."

"Yeah, Miyo wouldn't take any crap like that from Simonson. She would kill him before he did anything." Tharin said smiling, and with that everyone was smiling again.

"So what's the deal with the book Miyo?" Tharin asked after they started walking again, "Why are you reading it so much, is it for a class or something?"

Miyo's eyes brightened as she replied, "No, I just really like one of the stories in it."

Tisha smiled and said, "Yeah, so much so that she has read it six times already today"

"Holy, I don't even read the books I'm supposed to for class and you've read one story six times in one day?" Chase said in amazement.

A smile ran across Miyo's face as she stated, "Like I said I like one of the stories in the book."

A voice called after them from the corner, "There you guys are!"

Jase Mathia ran to catch up with them as Chase said, "Well, well look who decided to join the party."

Panting Jase replied, "I heard that. Why didn't you guys wait for me?"

Tisha smiled and said, "We were, but once Miyo came out we kind of forgot about you."

Jase scratched the back of his head and stated, "Yeah? I went to see Simonson but I didn't see her on my way up."

Chase shot him a glance and questioned, "Simonson, why would you want to talk to that weirdo?"

Jase crossed his arms as they stared walking again, "I had to ask the Blade Man something, but he wasn't in his room so I figured he had a meeting or something."

"Blade Man?" Tharin asked.

"Yeah" Tisha replied, "Simonson's first name is Blade so some students call him that to irritate him. To tell you the truth I would die to have a name like that"

After that no one said a word until they made it to an empty lot where they normally parted with Miyo and continued on their way home.

"That's weird." Chase said suddenly.

"What's weird Chase?" Miyo asked.

"Mrs. Leon usually tells us when the teachers have meetings so that no one stays around the school for tutoring." he replied.

Slowly all five of them turned around and stared back at the corner they had just walked from. It was true that Simonson not being in his classroom after class was odd, since all the teachers were supposed to stay in their rooms until all the students left or if they had meetings. A wind blew from the south, shaking the tree branches slightly.

"Um, okay anyone else getting a little freaked out here?" Tisha asked nervously.

"Yeah, let's get out of here." Tharin said.

The others started walking in the opposite direction before Jase stopped and turned back to Miyo, who was still looking back at the corner.

"Miyo?" he questioned, "If you want I could walk you home today."

Miyo looked to him and smiled, "No, it's okay. You guys go on and get home, I'll be fine."

She turned and started walking home when Tisha called after her, "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, remember we're going shopping!"

Miyo raised her right arm and waved without turning around. She had just made it to the end of the lot when a fierce pain ran through her chest. She gasped and fell to her knees, something felt very wrong to her. She looked back to the others but could not see them; instead she saw what looked like black snow or ash falling in front of her face.

Then, all of a sudden she heard a voice calling her name, "Miyo…Miyo…" it called to her.

"Is someone there?" she called to the voice.

"Miyo…" the voice called back, "Come to me Miyo…"

The voice seemed different now, it was more menacing and it sounded very familiar to her. Before she could say anything else a bright light flashed from out of nowhere, engulfing the black snow and making it invisible. Miyo screamed and shielded her eyes from the intense light with her arms.

Miyo's world then went black as the first voice called out again, "Miyo…my princess…"

"Do you think it was a good idea to let her go home by herself? She seemed pretty freaked out." Tharin asked Tisha.

"Yeah," she replied putting her hands in her pockets, "she'll be fine. I'll pressure her about Simonson tomorrow."

Chase's expression darkened as he questioned, "You think she was lying?"

"I do, I could see it in her eyes and on her face." she said.

"Whoa, hang on. What's up with Simonson and Miyo?" Jase asked sternly.

"We think Simonson did something to her today that he shouldn't have." Chase replied.

Jase stopped walking as his hands turned into fists as he whispered, "What?"

"Jase, calm down, we don't know for sure yet and Miyo even said that he didn't do anything." Tharin said while the others stopped walking and looked at Jase.

"Didn't I just say that I think she was lying?" Tisha demanded.

Tharin looked down and shifted his eyes from pebble to pebble as he nodded. Before anyone could say anything more a white substance started falling from the sky.

"What the…?" Chase started and put his hands up in attempt to catch what ever was falling before them.

"Is it snowing in the middle of June?" Jase questioned.

Tharin looked up at the sky and stated, "I don't think this is snow, for one it's way too warm."

Just as Chase was opening his mouth they heard a scream coming from the direction Miyo had been headed.

"Miyo?" Tisha called and started running back to the lot.

The others soon followed but a very bright light stopped them all. The four stared ahead without shielding their eyes as the whole world around them turned white.

"Princess…Princess…"

Miyo kept her eyes closed as the voice continued to call out "princess". She did not want to know what had happened, and for that matter she did not want to see it either. She never experienced blacking out before and she did not like the feeling at all. Miyo did not know who or what was talking be she wished it would stop.

In that very instant the voice stopped, making Miyo's heart skip a beat. Now it was completely silent, the only thing that could be heard was her rapid breathing and the steady thumping of her heart. Even though she was surrounded by darkness and silence Miyo did not dare open her eyes and she did not call out to whom ever or what ever it was who called out to her before.

Without warning the voice gave a final plea to Miyo, "Miyo, my princess…"

"_What?"_ Miyo thought to herself, _"Then it was saying that I was the princess, but why?"_

Suddenly the voice answered her thoughts, "Because Miyo, you will free me from my suffering."

Miyo's cheeks grew hot as the voice ran through her mind. She did not know why the voice made her feel safe, but as long as she did not have to hear the other voice, the one that sent chills through her spine, she was okay with this one for the time being. Miyo desperately wanted to open her eyes now but she could not bring herself to open them. After a moment's thought she knew her and Tisha would laugh about this tomorrow and she slowly and cautiously opened her eyes.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

The first thing Miyo saw when her eyes opened was a clear blue sky. She laughed to herself and put a hand on her head, she could not believe she had gotten so worked up over nothing. Miyo sat up and gasped at what her eyes saw.

Before her was a vast area of tall green grass, in the distance she could just make out a range of mountains. Her eyes grew wide as she rose to her feet, and got a better look of her new surroundings. The grass ran everywhere, and in a few places she observed, to her wonder, blue and white flowers in full bloom. Miyo wanted to look at everything but at such a level all she could see was grass, flowers, and the mountains.

She began walking up the slight slant of the land towards them as she thought to herself, _"I must be dreaming, or still hallucinating."_

Miyo figured that, in addition to seeing more of the land, if she could get to higher ground she could then see where she should go, if there was any place _to_ go. As she got closer to the base of the mountains she heard something that sounded like conversation. When Miyo came over the little hill she was walking on she saw two men talking to one another. Both were wearing some sort of black and gray armor, and what looked like swords at their sides.

Against her better judgment Miyo called out to them, "Excuse me, can either of you tell me what's going on or where I am?"

The two shot their attention to Miyo instantly and drew their swords, neither one making the slightest movement. To Miyo they seemed a little too serious, and their swords looked very real.

The first called to her, "Who are you? Name yourself!" He had long flowing hair that shimmered silver in the afternoon light and bright blue eyes.

At that moment something told Mito that she was not dreaming and that her current situation was very real indeed.

Tisha's eyes fluttered open to see Chase looking down at her with concern.

She gasped as she sat up and asked, "What happened?"

Chase looked around and replied simply, "I don't know." He put a hand out to help Tisha to her feet and continued, "I don't even know where we are."

Tisha looked at him and questioned, "What?"

As soon as the words left her mouth it fell open as she finally started taking in her surroundings. Around them Jase and Tharin were sitting on a rather large rock, their eyes hard with confusion and disbelief. It seemed that they were in a town of some sort, but there were no people to be seen and all of the buildings were either burnt beyond recognition or had fallen over due to age. The land was in ruin; nothing was growing anywhere in or around the town, from what they could see. Chase and Tisha walked over to where Jase and Tharin were sitting and took a seat next to them.

For some time no one said a word until Jase broke through the silence with, "Do you think Miyo is here too?"

Tharin looked up to the sky and said, almost to himself, "This is a dream, it has to be. This is impossible."

Chase shook his head and stated, "No, this is real. As much as I hate to admit it I'm pretty sure we aren't dreaming."

Tharin looked at him hard and demanded, "Then how do you explain this? I've never seen this place in my life."

Chase shot him a glare then replied, "I can't explain it, but something tells me that this place, where ever it is, is real."

"So what are we going to do? We can't just sit here for hours on end." Tisha asked looking around the desolate land.

Chase pointed to a large mountain rage in the distance and said, "We'll go there, I think if we get to some higher ground we'll be able to see where to go from here."

As they got up to leave Jase questioned again, "Do you think Miyo is here?"

"I don't know Jase; if she is she's not around this area." Chase replied.

As they made their way up a slight slope towards the mountains Tisha paused and looked behind her across the land and said, "Chase, there are mountains over there too."

"Yes, I know." he said without stopping, "We're closer to these mountains though, so I figured it would be better for us to climb these first before we went to them, or had to anyway."

Tisha nodded and began walking with them again. They had only walked about five miles before Tharin stopped and turned around.

"What's the matter?" Jase asked stopping and turning himself.

"Shh, listen…" he said in a whisper.

Everyone stopped and after several seconds Jase whispered back to him, "I don't hear anything."

"Hush! Just listen." Tharin snapped.

Jase was about to snap back at him but all of a sudden a faint sound echoed through the air, and it was getting louder with each passing moment. They all took action and ran to the nearest boulder for cover. They ducked behind it and prepared for the worst.

Jase whispered ever so slightly, "It sounds like horses, or something like horses."

"Yeah," Tisha answered, "it sounds like they're running."

The four slowly peered around the boulder to see, to their surprise, two men on horseback riding at a constant speed up the slopes of the mountain base towards them. They were both on white horses, the first had short blond hair and the second had wavy black hair. Tharin stood up and was about to yell out to them when Chase shot up and covered his mouth with his hand, pulling him back down.

"Are you out of your mind?!" he hissed

Tharin pulled Chase's hand away and whispered, "Maybe they can help us."

Suddenly the riders stopped and shared a look with one another. They then dismounted and walked cautiously up the slope towards the boulder Chase and the others were hiding behind.

Miyo put her hands up and replied, "Please, my name is Miyo. Can you tell me where I am?"

The second man stepped up; he had blond hair and was a little shorter than the first man, and shouted, "Silence!" Miyo flinched at the rage she detected in his voice as he continued, "It is we who will ask the questions!"

The first man walked up to Miyo, his blue eyes filled with rage as he ordered, "If you move or use any form of magic be well aware that we will kill you without hesitation."

Miyo's eyes grew wide as the words rang through her head. The second man walked up to them, his eyes were hazel, and they were filled with the same amount of rage as the first man's. The silver haired man sheathed his sword and began searching Miyo as the blond haired man kept the tip of his sword pointed firmly at her throat.

"She does not have anything on her, not even the smallest of weapons." The blue-eyed man informed his partner.

The blond sheathed his sword and spoke a language Miyo did not understand. A bright red light flashed before her and was gone in the next instant.

"It would seem she does not have anything magical on her either." the blond said.

The blue-eyed man furred his brow and asked, "Do you think it wise to bring her to the Prince?"

After considering the options before them the blond nodded and stepped up to Miyo and said, "If you resist in any way you will not live to see another day, do you understand?"

Miyo looked at him and nodded, not daring to say a word. He proceeded in taking out a long silver chain with one set of cuffs attached to both ends. The blue-eyed man grabbed Miyo's wrists forcefully as the blond closed the first two cuffs around them. She winced at the instant pain she felt from the tightness of the cuffs. He then attached the other two cuffs around her ankles; they were looser than the wrist cuffs and did not cause her as much pain.

"We will now take you to see the Prince." the blue-eyed man said.

"Prince?" Miyo asked almost in a whisper.

Neither one answered her, or even hinted that they had heard her as they turned and began walking up the mountain. She dropped her head and gazed off to the right, reluctantly following after them slowly. She did not think she had done anything wrong, and now she was being treated like a prisoner. Perhaps the Prince would see to it that she was a prisoner or even worse. Miyo suddenly stopped as the realization set in that if the Prince's guards were this cold then maybe the Prince was even worse.

The blond was holding the chain and pulled it hard without stopping and commanded, "Keep moving!"

The sudden pull forced Miyo forward, making her fall to the ground. The silver haired man put up a hand and they both stopped walking and turned back to Miyo. She rose to her hands and knees looking up at them, trying her hardest to hold in the tears forming in her eyes.

The blond looked sternly at her and said, "Get up; we do not have time for petty things like tears."

Slowly Miyo got to her feet; a small pool of blood was soaking into the ground where she had fallen. Both legs of her pants were torn at the knees and her right knee was bleeding moderately, as was her left arm and both of her wrists. Without warning rage ran through Miyo, but within seconds disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving her in immense pain. She started walking again, trying to ignore the blood dripping down her leg, arm, and wrists.

The two men looked at one another then began walking again before Miyo could catch up to them completely. Tears began to form in Miyo's eyes once again but she held them back, she would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her tears. She glanced down at herself and saw that the bottom of her left pants leg was slowly turning red, and her wrists burned with pain. Miyo looked up again and bit down gently on her lower lip; if her suspicions were right then she would have to endure more than just bloody knees and wrists.

Soon an enormous castle came into view; Miyo glanced up at it for a short second then turned her attention back to the ground. They had walked a total of nine miles, and she had been limping for six of those miles. To her relief her bleeding had stopped but her wrists still burned in pain from the metal cuffs. They stopped at an old wooden gate, it was dark brown and had several symbols carved into the center.

"Who comes?" a voice called down from above the gate.

The man with silver hair replied, "It is Abel and Alister, we bring a stranger to see the Prince."

"Ay!" the voice called back.

The blond turned to Miyo and said coldly, "Do not say a word to anyone we pass in the castle, and do not speak to the Prince unless he wishes you to do so. Do you understand?"

"Yes…" Miyo said quietly.

The wooden gate creaked opened to reveal a beautiful garden full of lush grass and yellow and blue flowers that looked like the same type of flowers Miyo had seen earlier. There was a small fountain in the center of the garden that caught Miyo's eye, it had a stone creature in the middle of it that looked like a large bird but to her it seemed like fire emanated from each and every feather. The water fell from a large stone spout a few inches above the bird and it poured around it in a gentle flow.

"Welcome back Sir Abel and Sir Alister." the voice called down to them.

Miyo only caught a glimpse of the person talking as the two men, Abel and Alister, began walking again. From what she saw it looked like a man, but its face looked like it had been through a paper shredder. The man, or creature rather, was quite tall and it had blond hair.

For fear of being pulled to the ground again Miyo walked after the men so fast that she was almost walking on their heels. Around her she saw a variety of different guards and soldiers, but none of them had the same style of armor as Able and Alister. Each piece of armor she saw had one thing in common, it was all silver. They walked around the garden and opened a large wooden door and walked into the castle.

They walked up one flight of dark gray stone stairs then down two flights before coming out to a courtyard. Abel and Alister walked Miyo out to the center of the courtyard and tied her chains to the middle of a stone platform. The courtyard was very large and all around was same dark gray stones found inside the castle. Miyo stood on the platform and waited, dreading what was to come next.

"Now look what you did, they know we're here now." Chase whispered in anger at Tharin.

The man who spoke had blond hair and a vary calm but demanding voice, "We know that you are there, come out slowly and do not try to attack us or you will regret it."

As soon as the words left his mouth both men unsheathed the swords hanging by their sides.

"What now?" Jase asked nervously.

"Oh for Heaven's sake." Tisha said as she rose to her feet and walked out from behind the boulder. Upon seeing the swords Tisha's hands shot up as she said, "Whoa you guys, calm down."

The man with black hair demanded, "Who are you, what are you doing here?"

Tisha slowly put her hands down as she relied, "I'm not really sure why we're here, we were walking home from school when the next thing I know we ended up here."

The two men shot each other a glance before the man with black hair questioned, "We?"

Tisha looked behind her and shook her head. She turned and walked behind the boulder forcing the others out into the open.

"Sorry," she said with a small smile, "they claim to be men but they act more like little boys."

The man with black hair sheathed his sword and walked over to Tisha and the others raising a hand saying, "If you please, we need to be absolutely certain that you are not working for the enemy." A shining blue light flashed before them and was gone in seconds. The man smiled and said, "Forgive us; it would seem you are truly on the side of good. Although I did sense an odd power within you all it is a power of the light."

He walked back to the blond as he too sheathed his sword. Both men looked at them and bowed as they introduced themselves.

The man with black hair introduced himself first, "I am Waz." followed by the man with blond hair, "And I am Silver, we are guards of the Prince."

Tisha introduced herself and the others in turn. "Prince?" Jase questioned after the introductions were finished.

"Yes, Prince Will to be exact." Waz answered.

"Wait a minute, princes and castle guards? That doesn't seem too believable to me." Tharin said coldly and crossed his arms.

"Tharin!" Tisha barked.

"Please, it is all right." Silver said with a slight smile. "If you are truly not from our land than The Seer was right.

"How did you know we weren't from here, and can you tell us what's going on? Why are we here?" Tisha asked.

Waz and Silver shared a glace and frowned. Waz stepped forward and replied, "Forgive me, but your cloths do not look very familiar to me. I think it would be best to ask The Seer your questions instead of us."

"You see, The Seer foretold your arrival but did not say how or when you would arrive." Silver continued after him.

Tisha nodded and turned to the others and asked, "What do you guys think, should we go with them?"

Chase nodded and said, "Yeah, we don't really have any other option right now. We can't stay out here much longer or we'll be wondering around in the dark."

Jase and Tharin nodded in agreement and Tisha turned back to face Silver and Waz replying, "Okay, take us to see this Seer."

Waz looked out to the horizon and stated, "You must understand, The Seer is a difficult person to talk to, but even before you get the chance to talk to him you must get permission from Prince Will first. Come, we will take you to the castle."

Waz and Silver walked with them up the slopes of the mountains, their horses walking beside them. Silver had asked Tisha to tell him and Waz everything that had happened before and after they entered their land. She told them every single detail she could recall up until he and Waz had found them.

"Your friend Miyo, it would seem that she might be here as well." Waz said thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Jase said, "I was afraid she was but we couldn't find her anywhere around where we ended up."

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Chase said, "Miyo was standing a few feet away from us." He stopped and looked back to the other mountain range. "Maybe she ended up over there." he continued.

The others stopped and all looked back as well; the sun was beginning to set behind them and an ominous wind began to blow slightly.

"I pray that she is not." Silver said quietly as he turned away.

"Why, what's over there?" Jase asked sternly.

"That entire area is Blake's territory." Waz said as he and Silver continued up the mountain. The others followed after them shortly after.

"Who's Blake?" Chase asked.

Silver sighed and after several seconds replied, "Maybe you should save that question for Prince Will."

Jake and the others shared a look of concern.

Waz put a hand on Silver's shoulder and continued for him, " We do not talk much about Blake on orders from our Prince but since you are bound to learn of him soon anyway I will tell you this; Blake is known to his followers as Prince Blake."

"Blake is a prince too?" Tisha asked.

Waz nodded and continued, "Yes, and Blake is also Prince Will's twin brother."

"Isn't that a good thing? I mean if they're brothers and Blake finds Miyo then we wouldn't have to go look for her if she is here." Tharin stated smiling.

Silver shook his head as they came upon a giant castle gate, "No, it would be a very bad thing." he replied, "Blake is evil and would not hesitate to kill a defenseless girl who had no idea where she was."

No one said a word as a voice called over the castle gates, "Who comes?"

Waz looked up and answered, "It is Silver and Waz! We bring The Seer's visitors to see Prince Will!"

"Yes sir!" the voice called back. Soon the gates opened and pure white stones glistened in the setting sun.

"Come, we will show you to the Prince." Silver said stepping through the gates.

The others stepped in while the gate closed slowly behind them. Silver led the way into the main part of the castle taking them to a huge white and golden door.

Before Silver opened the door he turned and said to the group, "Now before you see the Prince please keep in mind that you will be talking to royalty."

Waz nodded and added, "Even though you are our guests we will not think twice about throwing you out of the castle if Prince Will orders it."

They all nodded in turn and Jase said, "We understand, I think I speak for everyone when I say we've never met a prince before, but we will be on our best behavior."

Waz and Silver nodded in approval. Silver grasped the door's golden handles and added, "And do not bring up the Prince's brother unless he brings him up himself." Turning his attention back to the door he pulled it open to reveal the gorgeous white throne room.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

Miyo stood perfectly still for about two minutes before the door one story above her opened and three figures stepped out.

The first was cloaked and only a few strands of black hair stood out from the person's hood. The second was an elegantly dressed woman; her long blond hair was draped loosely over her bare shoulders. The last, and most remarkable, was a gorgeous young man with sweeping black hair. He wore bright red jewels in the gauntlets on his hands and had a pitch-black cloak blowing faintly in the wind behind him. A scar could be seen over his right eye; it started at the hairline and descended down across the eye to just above his upper lip. The man's bright blue eyes coldly gazed around the courtyard until they landed on Miyo. This was no doubt the Prince Abel and Alister had spoken of, and he took Miyo's breath away.

"Abel! What do you bring before me?" the Prince demanded.

The silver haired man stepped forward and dropped to one knee replying calmly, "My Prince, we bring a stranger that was found on your land."

The prince came up to the balcony and looked deeply at Miyo. As he looked at her she could feel her cheeks reddening slightly against her will, there was something oddly familiar about him.

"Did you ask her where she is from?" the Prince continued.

"Yes sir, she did not respond to that question." Abel replied.

"Thank you Abel that is all." the Prince stated.

Abel bowed his head, rose, and returned to Alister's side. Miyo knew what it was now, she had heard his voice somewhere before, but could not remember where or when.

The Prince smiled ever so slightly and called down to her, "What is your name, my dear?"

Miyo's nerves were buzzing through her as she stammered, "Miyo," she paused and before she could think of anything she added, "sir."

The person wearing the cloak shifted slightly and let a smile slip on his lips that no one seemed to notice.

"Miyo…" the Prince continued, "enlighten me, where are you from?"

She thought for several minutes before she answered, "I am from a town called Wachales, though I don't think it's anywhere near here."

The woman laughed as she sneered down at Miyo and slipped an arm around the Prince, "There is no such name and there is no such place. You are obviously here on Prince Blake's brother's orders to assassinate him."

Blake, the name ran wild through Miyo's head, as she answered, "No! I swear to you that I am telling the truth!"

The woman sneered again and shouted, "Lies!"

Miyo did not know what to do, she had no idea where she was and no one would believe what she said for the truth.

Before she could protest again Prince Blake laughed calmly and said, "Now Integra, we have no reason to doubt her," Miyo breathed a sigh of relief before the Prince finished, "but…" his voice suddenly turned harsh and bitter, "we have no reason to believe her either."

Both Prince Blake and Integra laughed at this, he stopped short and gestured to Abel and Alister.

"Abel, Alister, come up here so you don't get killed!" he shouted.

They walked past Miyo without a single glance and walked up the stairs to join the others.

Prince Blake wrapped an arm around Integra now as he said, "My lady, if you wouldn't mind."

Integra smiled and snapped her fingers four times. Suddenly four grotesque winged beasts were flying around Miyo, each holding long spears.

The Prince raised his hand and shouted down at Miyo, "Be grateful Integra's gargoyles will be the end of you and not I. Please understand that trespassing in my kingdom is punishable by death!"

"_Death?"_ Miyo thought with horror. _"They're going to kill me without even hearing the full story?"_

The gargoyles stopped flying around Miyo and positioned their spears for attack.

"Do not fear little girl, they will free you from your binds before they kill you." Integra laughed.

"If you were sent by my brother I suggest you fight back at least a little to give me some enjoyment." the Prince called to Miyo.

Miyo flinched as two of the beasts broke through her chains with their spears. She fell back and stared at them as their wings beat the air around them. Her eyes grew wide as she thought of her situation. She could not do anything; even if she had something to defend herself with she could not take on one monster by herself, let alone four.

One of the gargoyles dove at her and sliced her arm open mere inches where it had been scraped by her fall. Miyo screamed in pain as fresh blood covered the dried blood on her arm and hand. She pulled herself up and made a run to the other side of the courtyard.

"I thought we discussed this Integra, your little pets need to stop playing with their food." the Prince snickered.

"Forgive me, my Prince. They do enjoy their fun." she smiled.

Before Miyo could make it to the center of the courtyard a gargoyle swiped her legs out from under her. She screamed again as she hit the hard stone ground, the metal cuffs were still attached to her wrists and ankles, and they cut into her flesh even deeper. Miyo rose to her hands and knees as she looked up at her assailants. Tears poured down her face as the Prince and others laughed.

"_No,"_ she thought, _"I'm going to die…I'm going to die!"_

The throne room was lit with hundreds of white candles and the silk curtains were drawn lightly against the setting sun. Three people could be seen in the room, two females standing beside the throne and the Prince.

Waz walked down to the throne and whispered something to the Prince as Silver motioned for Jase and the others to stay where they were. The Prince nodded and smiled and Waz turned back and waved to Silver to bring them.

The Prince rose and announced, "Welcome friends, I am Prince Will. It is so nice to see that you have finally arrived."

Prince Will had beautiful white hair and crystal blue eyes, and his calming voice only added to his beauty. A scar was seen over his left eye starting at his hairline and traveling down across the eye stopping inches above his upper lip.

"Imazo, Inazo, come great our guests." he continued with a smile.

The woman standing on the right came forward and bowed, she had long silver hair and piercing green eyes.

"Hello, I am Imazo." she stated.

The woman on the left did the same; she was almost identical to Imazo except her eyes were brown and she was slightly shorter and younger looking.

"I am Inazo." she said.

Both rose together and stated in unison, "It is very nice to meet you."

"Since The Seer foresaw your arrival I should imagine you would all like to speak with him." the Prince said.

Chase hesitated for a moment before he answered, "Yes, if it would be possible…sir. We would like to know why we our here and if our friend was brought here as well…sir."

Will smiled again and replied, "Of course, but please you do not have to be so formal with me. I am quite sure you are not used to this." The others nodded and smiled as the Prince continued, "I am afraid you will have to wait until the morning."

Tisha and the others shared a feeling of concern as the Prince stated, "You have had a long day and it is a lot to take in. You will eat and then sleep, tomorrow will be here before you know it." This sounded like a command more than a statement but no one spoke a word.

Silver caught their concern and was about to speak but the Prince continued on, "I know you want to find your friend but The Seer will also need time to prepare for you."

With Will's pause Silver took the opportunity to speak, "My Prince, we believe...I mean, forgive me…"

All of Silver's strength left him as Will's smile vanished and asked coldly, "Blake?"

Silver could not make eye contact with the Prince, and he could not make his mouth move.

"Yes, my Prince. Forgive us for not informing you earlier." Waz said and bowed.

Will's exterior darkened, no longer was he smiling and joyful. He looked suddenly to Tisha and the others and stated, "I pray that your friend is not with Blake, but the fact still stands that you cannot see The Seer now."

Jake burst out, "Why? If she is with your brother then we should go and save her!"

Chase slapped his hands in front of Jase's mouth and stated, "Please, forgive his outburst, but we are very worried about her and would like to know if she is okay."

Will turned his back on them and looked through the curtains to the mountains in the west. "Blake is no brother of mine." he stated simply, "We may be related in blood but he is a monster." He turned and said, "Imazo, Inazo, take our guests to the third floor waiting room and stay with them until I come to get you."

They both bowed and stated, "Yes sir, please come with us."

Will turned and started walking out of the room as he called over his shoulder, "Waz, Silver, come with me."

"Yes sir!" they called and followed closely on his heels.

As Chase and the others followed Imazo and Inazo out the other door and up a set of stairs Tisha asked, "Where are they going?"

"I would imagine they are going to see Namau." Inazo said.

"Namau?" Tharin questioned.

"Yes, that is The Seer's name." Imazo replied.

They made it to the second floor without anyone saying a word. Jase broke the silence by asking, "You two look almost identical, are you sisters or something?"

They all caught the grief in his voice as Imazo answered, "No, we are not sisters, we are cousins."

"Wow, I didn't notice before but he's right, you two do look like sisters." Tisha remarked.

They were all silent again and it kept until they got to the waiting room. The room was decorated much like the throne room except there were lavish couches and chairs spread all throughout the area and a fierce fire blazing in the fireplace. Imazo and Inazo stood on either side of the door and motioned for them to enter. They did without hesitation as the two women closed the door behind them.

"Prince Will and the others won't be more than a few minutes, but please make yourselves comfortable." Inazo said with a smile.

Tharin, Tisha, and Chase sat on the couch facing the fireplace as Jase chose a chair off to the side.

"I am sure you will not be able to talk to Namau tonight, but you will all be given a change of clothes and a nice meal." Imazo stated taking a seat with Inazo next to the others.

They both smiled as Inazo said, "Do not worry; your friend will be fine."

"No!" Miyo screamed. In an instant a pitch-black pulse knocked into the four gargoyles, the sheer force destroyed each of them. The laughter stopped dead as their eyes, along with Miyo's, widened in disbelief.

"Sir, what was that just now?" Abel asked.

To himself Blake stated, "It cannot be, that's impossible…that girl couldn't possibly be…"

Integra's expression hardened as she called to Miyo, "So you can fight after all, let's see you handle this!"

She snapped her fingers twice more and seven lines of demonic looking warriors appeared before Miyo. She quickly rose to her feet and took several steps away from them. Integra laughed once more and commanded her warriors to attack with a wave of her hand. They slowly started towards Miyo who desperately looked for a place to run to.

"Prince Blake, maybe we should study this girl to see what other powers she holds. Perhaps she could prove to be a valuable asset." Alister stated.

Blake shook his head and replied, "No, this will be all the study we need. If she is who she's supposed to be she will be killed, however..." before he finished the warriors attacked.

Miyo was no longer afraid for her life; instead rage filled her every being. They did not even know her, yet they were sentencing her to death. Why? She did not do anything to any of them. Why?! Blake and the others saw Miyo's green eyes turn a fierce crimson and a black aura surrounded her.

Abel and Alister stepped away from the edge as Integra stammered, "What is she?"

Miyo swiped her arm out in front of her and two of the lines of warriors disintegrated with a huge black mass of energy. Her red eyes fell on the remaining demons as her feet left the ground and she began levitating in the air. She screamed in fury as she brought her hands up over her head.

The wounds on her knee and arm were now healing at a rapid pace and the cuffs on her wrists shattered with the intensity of the black aura. The now free Miyo brought her hands down fiercely and a huge black orb slammed into the remaining warriors. Like the ones before them they too disintegrated.

"She destroyed seventy demon warriors with only two attacks?!" Abel said in horror.

The Prince's face darkened as he said, "She could have done it with one if she knew what she was doing."

Without a second thought the Prince jumped from the balcony and landed with grace on the stone. The aura around Miyo grew stronger as the wounds on her wrists began to heal and her eyes deepened in color. She turned her attention to the Prince as she came back down to the ground.

Blake looked at her for a moment then stated calmly, "It is okay now, we won't try to hurt you anymore but you must calm down."

Miyo did not answer him as she sent another wave of blackness straight for the Prince. Before anyone could act he jumped out of the way and it slammed against the courtyard wall. An enormous gash was left by the blast. Blake's eyes grew wide, the girl before him was not even using her power to its full strength, yet she cut that deep of a gash in the wall.

The Prince knew now that he had to be cautious if he was going to engage her in battle. He could not kill her now that he knew what kind of power she had but he had to put up some sort of a fight or he might get himself killed.

"Okay." he said and pulled out a shining silver sword with a black hilt. "I swear I will not kill you, but don't make me hurt you more than I have to." he continued as he charged at her.

Miyo narrowed her eyes as the Prince drew near. She fired another blast at him but this time he hit the attack away with his sword. The force traveled down the blade and made his muscular arms numb almost causing him to loose his grip. He yelled and slashed at Miyo's chest; she countered and stopped his swing with her left hand.

"What?!" the Prince yelled in astonishment as Miyo's right hand came up to blast him away.

Blake flew back and almost crashed against the wall but he stopped himself several inches from the stones. He used a free hand to skid to a stop as he sent a dark ball, similar but smaller than Miyo's, straight to her. It hit at full force and made her fall to her knees.

The Prince cursed himself for lack of restraint as the aura around Miyo grew smaller and she stammered, "What…what's happening to me?"

She looked up to the Prince as he answered her, "Listen to me, you have to calm down or the darkness is going to consume you."

Miyo got to her feet slowly and replied, "But I…I don't want this. I don't know what this is."

Prince Blake called up to the others, "Heed me all of you! No matter what happens I command that you do not move from that spot, any of you!"

He started walking towards Miyo, sheathing his sword and holding out his hands. His blue eyes meeting Miyo's for the first time and a few black strands of silk hung in his face.

"Please, stay away from me." Miyo pleaded as her entire spirit began to be drawn in by the Prince.

She wanted to stop but she could not control her body, and even though he ordered her death she did not want to hurt him. She could not think of a reason why but a small part of her thought they were alike.

Tears started forming in her eyes once again as she said, "No, please."

The Prince drew closer to her and she could feel herself tensing up, he was not going to stop. Did he not fear her and this horrid power?

"Miyo." he said calmly.

Her breath caught in her throat, something about his voice in that instant sounded so very familiar to her, but she had certainly never met the Prince before, that much she was sure.

The aura around Miyo grew stronger once again as she shouted, "No!"

The Prince snapped into action and ran the rest of the way to her and called, "Miyo!" as he tried to grab her.

She backed away and the aura sliced through the prince's outstretched arm. He flinched as a drop of blood hit the ground, it did not hurt as bad as he made it seem but he was hoping it would calm her down.

The sound of blood hitting stone echoed through Miyo's head as she stared down at it. She had hurt the Prince, he was trying to help her and she had made him spill blood for it. The black aura vanished as quickly as it had appeared and her eyes began changing back to their natural green.

Another drop fell before the prince's wound healed itself but the damage was done. Miyo looked up at him and caught his eye.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Miyo said, "I'm…sorry."

Her legs buckled under her and she thought she was going to hit the ground but warm, strong arms caught her. Blake had caught her, had saved her from hitting the stones. He turned her around so that his arms were supporting her back and head.

Miyo looked up at him and said again, "I'm sorry."

He did not get the chance to reply as she fell unconscious in his arms.

"Abel, Alister, I want you to go and prepare a second room for her." he stated as he began to walk out of the courtyard with her.

Abel and Alister bowed and walked silently into the castle. Integra scowled and she too walked in. The person wearing the cloak stepped forward and watched the Prince carry Miyo away.

He smiled and said, "Intriguing, this situation is getting more and more delightful."

Prince Will, Silver, and Waz walked with haste down the main set of stairs to the basement. They walked a few feet to an aged wooden door and stopped.

Before Will got the chance to knock a deep voice called from behind the door, "Come, my Prince."

Silver shuddered and stated, "I hate it when The Seer does that."

The Prince turned the golden handle quickly, and he and the others stepped in. The Seer's room was lit with hundreds of candles in a variety of sizes and colors. The Seer was sitting motionless with his eyes closed surrounded by black and purple candles.

"You wish to know about Miyo Richards' whereabouts, yes?" he asked calmly without opening his eyes.

"Yes." the Prince replied with slight hesitation.

The Seer nodded and sat quietly for several minutes before he answered, his eyes opening to reveal pure red irises, "She is, indeed, with Prince Blake."

Waz tensed and said, "No…sir we have to go and save her."

The Seer shook his head and stated calmly, "You must not go to her aid, and she does not require assistance at this time."

The Prince and others shared a look of concern before Waz asked, "My we see her, or can you give us any details about the situation?"

The Seer closed his eyes once more and stated, "No, I will not say or show you anything tonight. I must prepare for seeing Tisha, Tharin, Jase, and Chase in the morning."

The Prince, although frustrated, replied, "Understood, I thank you for your help Seer."

As they each bowed in turn and went to leave the room The Seer opened his eyes again and said, "Wait, I do have something else to say to you, Prince Will."

Waz and Silver bowed once more and The Seer nodded once to them as they left, closing the door silently behind them. Prince Will walked over and sat across from The Seer when he motioned to sit.

"Prince Will," The Seer said, his intense red eyes staring directly into Will's calm blue eyes, "you must listen to me carefully."

The Prince nodded and replied, "Yes, Namau, anything you wish."

The Seer slowly closed his eyes and began, "You must let Miyo Richards follow the path she has been given. If you or anyone else tampers with her destiny it will spell certain death for us all." Will shifted nervously as he continued, "I give you my word that Prince Blake will not harm her in any way. Caitlin is on her way back from his castle as we speak. She will give you information about Miyo's situation, but I request to speak to her first."

Will looked down and nodded, "Of course, once she returns I will have her sent down to you."

"No one must talk to her before I do, Waz will understand this best so put him in charge of it." The Seer said.

"Yes." the Prince said simply.

The Seer nodded and stated, "That is all, you may go." As Will got to his feet The Seer added, "And what I said about Prince Blake, it will hold true but his advisors will try to foil Miyo's destiny, I suspect. I will work tonight on how to combat this."

Will had turned his back to him and without turning asked, "When shall I bring the others to you tomorrow?"

"When the sun peaks in the sky, I still need time to prepare for them." he replied.

Will turned his head and questioned, "Namau, Miyo…she is the one, The Lost One?"

The Seer opened his eyes and answered, "Yes."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

Prince Will walked out of The Seer's room and gently closed the door behind him.

"Come." was all he said and the three of them began their climb up the stairs. "Waz, Caitlin is on her way back to the castle. As soon as she arrives I want you to bring her down to see The Seer." he stated, quickening his pace slightly.

"Yes sir." he replied.

They arrived on the main floor in seconds; Waz walked away immediately and stood by the door in wait for Caitlin.

"She must talk to no one until she sees The Seer, is that understood?" the Prince continued.

Bowing Waz replied, "Of course sir."

Will and Silver began ascending the stairs as Will called back, "As soon as she is finished you may come and join us."

Neither man spoke a word until they got to the third floor and Prince Will said, "Silver, I do not want you repeating anything that was said after we left our guests, it will only upset them."

"Yes sir, but…don't you think it would be better if they knew that their friend was alright?" he questioned.

The Prince shook his head and replied, "No, I don't want them learning anything until The Seer speaks with them. After tomorrow they will learn everything they need to know."

They walked up to the waiting room door and both took a deep breath, if what The Seer said before was true then no one must learn anything before their time or Miyo, as well as everyone else, would be put in danger. Will knocked twice on the door before he opened it. Imazo and Inazo rose immediately and bowed, the faint glow of the fire glistening off their hair.

"Come friends, you must be famished by now. Silver, go and make sure the table is ready." the Prince stated with a forced smile.

"Yes sir." Silver replied as he turned and walked with hast down the hallway.

"Did you learn anything about Miyo, sir?" Chase asked as they walked out of the room a few minutes after Silver.

"I'm afraid not, but do not worry." Will answered.

They passed numerous doors before the Prince broke the silence once more, "Unfortunately all of the rooms on this floor are taken so you will have to stay on the fifth floor while you are here."

"How many floors does this castle have?" Tisha asked taking in her surroundings.

"It has a total of nine that includes the basement, the dungeon, and the one tower room. No one stays on the main floor, the second floor, or the top floors though." he replied with a smile.

"Wow, the castle didn't look that big from the outside but once you get inside it's enormous." Tharin said in awe.

Chase's expression darkened, he wanted to ask the Prince more questions as he could plainly see he wasn't telling them the whole truth about Miyo. Something about him seemed odd, but he dared not press the matter further until the Prince said something else.

"Tell me, what did you talk about while in the waiting room?" Prince Will asked.

Imazo smiled and said, "We did not get the chance to talk about anything."

Inazo smiled after her and said, "Our guests were busy getting warm by the fire."

The Prince nodded in approval and said, "Yes, the nights in this land tend to be colder than nights from other lands."

They turned a corner and saw Silver standing by a large crystal blue door. "Prince Will, everything is ready." he stated with a smile when they drew near to him.

"Ah good, please take your and eat." the Prince said and opened the beautiful crystal door.

Prince Blake carried Miyo up to the tower room and laid her on the bed. He looked up and out the single window in the room thinking back on what he just witnessed and the problems in would cause him. His eyes narrowed as he looked back down at Miyo and noticed her wrists. They were still bleeding heavily; Blake guessed she must have reopened the wounds when she fought him.

Taking a small piece of cloth from his side pocket he said quietly, "I hope you do not become a bigger problem than you are worth." With that he tore the cloth in half and wrapped a piece around each of Miyo's wrists.

As he turned to leave the Prince drew his attention back to the window. There was no glass or cloth over it and a cool breeze was blowing in ever so slightly. The room was steadily growing darker with the setting sun and Blake let out a sigh as he walked out of the room.

Several minutes later he returned with a single candle and two pieces of heavy cloth. The Prince lit the candle with a dim flash from the tip of his finger and set it on the small table next to the bed. He hung the first piece of cloth over the window, engulfing the room in darkness save for the light of the candle, and placed the second piece over Miyo.

The room was now growing colder with the absence of the setting sun, but Prince Blake was certain his actions would keep Miyo from freezing to death. He looked down at Miyo a second time before he turned to leave but something made him stop and gaze back at her. The faint light from the candle barely brushed her face as she slept, unaware of the world around her. The Prince closed the door behind him and felt immediate anger as he sealed the door with a spell and walked away with a steadily growing hot face.

Prince Blake did not want to believe he had growing feelings for the girl. He should not have helped her like he did, and he certainly should not have talked to her like he had. The castle could hold up against an outrage like that, so why did he stop her? He knew very well why, but he did not want to believe it.

The Prince walked down the stairs leading up to the tower, he could not let this bother him now, he had things to do and he had to prepare himself for when Miyo awoke. He could not be certain how she would react when she did wake, if in fact she ever did. The Prince walked into the throne room to find Integra, Abel, and Alister waiting for him.

"Sir, is she…?" Alister asked as he bowed to his prince.

"She is sleeping in the tower. I want all of you to leave her be until morning." he replied as he sat in his throne.

Integra sneered as she sat next to him, "Are you planning to freeze her?"

She laughed as Blake scowled and answered, "I closed off the window and she has a candle and blanket for warmth." Integra stopped laughing and Abel and Alister shared a glance.

"Leave us, the Prince and I have some things to discuss." she demanded.

Alister and Abel bowed and said in turn, "Yes my lady." They turned and left through the door Blake had entered minutes before.

Integra rose and walked behind the Prince's throne, her arms came around and caressed Blake's chest. "Now, don't tell me that little girl has you all flustered." she cooed to him.

She began to run her hands down his armored body until the prince's hands shot up to stop their decent. Anger flared in Integra's face as she came around to the front of the throne and folded her arms in front of her. "I hope you haven't forgotten what you promised me." she barked.

Prince Blake shot her a look of fury and stated, "And I hope you haven't forgotten your place, witch."

Waz only had to wait two minutes after Prince Will and Silver were out of sight before a small green glow flew by his face.

"Caitlin, wait!" he called after it.

It stopped instantly and grew in size, soon a young woman with long brown hair and intense green eyes stood before him. "Waz, what is it? I need to speak with Prince Will immediately." she pleaded desperately.

He nodded and stated, "Yes, I know. The Seer wants to see you first, we know a little bit of what's going on."

Caitlin clamed down at his words and said, "Okay, let's go."

The two walked back to the stairs Waz, Silver, and the Prince had taken previously. In minutes they were in front of the wooden door that led to The Seer's room.

Waz knocked and The Seer's voice called, "Come!"

Waz turned to Caitlin and said, "I will wait here for you."

"Thank you." she stated and walked into the room.

The door closed behind her and Caitlin looked around the room for The Seer. He was sitting in a window nook, bathed in the light of the newly rising moon.

His eyes were closed as he said, "Welcome Caitlin, please have a seat." She obeyed and waited for The Seer to speak again. He opened his eyes and looked at her and asked, "You saw her, did you not? Miyo Richards?"

Caitlin looked up at him startled and replied, "That's her name? Yes, I saw her at Blake's castle."

"And you saw her power?" he continued.

"Yes." Caitlin said. The Seer closed his eyes again and did not speak for several minutes. "Namau, her power is terrifying. It's just like…" she stated.

"I know Caitlin. You must not tell Prince Will or anyone else what you saw this evening." The Seer said cutting her off as his eyes flew open.

Caitlin flinched at the harshness in his voice, normally The Seer was always calm but when the situation called for it he could be even more terrifying than a swamp demon.

The Seer looked out the window and continued, "As I told Prince Will Miyo has to stay on the path she has been given. Our existence depends on the situation she is in right now."

Caitlin thought for a few seconds before she answered, "I understand, but her power is so great, will she be able to handle it without being consumed by it?"

"That will be left for her to decide. I cannot see what the outcome of this will be." he replied.

They sat in silence with the soft glow of candlelight and moonlight illuminating their features for some time before The Seer looked to Caitlin slowly, "You must promise me that you will not mention this to anyone. Miyo's friends are here in the castle now and I will talk to them in the morning, but I do not think their powers have awakened yet."

"Did you see it as well, Namau? When she destroyed those shadow warriors?" Caitlin questioned quietly.

The Seer nodded and replied, "Yes, I saw everything though I did not want to believe it at the time."

She looked up to him and said with a slight smile, "I won't say anything, you have my word."

"Good, I never doubted you Caitlin." he stated. The Seer closed his eyes, hinting to Caitlin that she could leave. She rose and went to the door; she had just put her hand against the door when one of The Seer's white candles flickered out. The Seer's red eyes focused on it but he could not get it to light again. The two shared a look of concern before Caitlin left, shutting the door after her.

"Things might not be as simple as they seemed to be." he stated, his red eyes glowing in the moonlight.

Caitlin walked out of the Seer's room and nervously looked at Waz who was leaning against the wall. She did not like talking with The Seer; their differences put them at a constant feud. Something about his red eyes sent fear surging through every fiber of her being.

"Did he scare you again?" Waz asked with a grin as they walked up the stairs.

"It wasn't that he scared me," she replied, "one of his candles went out."

Waz stopped in mid step as he turned around to face her and questioned, "Really, it just went out on its own?" She nodded and Waz said, "I have never heard of any of The Seer's candles going out unless he wanted it to."

They continued their assent without saying a word and it continued that way until they arrived at the second floor and Caitlin stopped.

Waz turned around concerned and asked, "What's the matter?"

She frowned and answered, "It's just, this whole situation with these strange people. What does it mean, what do they want?"

Waz smiled and replied, "The only thing they want is their friend returned to them and to understand why they were brought here."

"If I would have had more time to bring the Chosen Ones here then maybe these people wouldn't be here now." Caitlin stated as she stared walking slowly up the stone steps.

Waz shook his head and smiled even wider, "They are here." he called after her.

She stopped and whirled around with surprise in her voice, "What?"

"If you wouldn't always fear the worst, Caitlin, then perhaps you would have pieced it together by now. Who else would be here?" he stated.

"Tisha and Chase?" she questioned.

Waz nodded and finished for her, "And Tharin and Jase."

Caitlin's eyes grew wide as she remarked, "I thought it was just Miyo who was here, to think they made it here on their own. Where are they now?"

"I would imagine they are sitting down to eat." he replied. The two continued up the stairs to the third floor and began walking down the hallway as Waz remarked, "It may be a good idea if we wait a little while before we go in. They are your students, correct?"

Caitlin nodded and said, "Yes, two of them are. And you are right; we won't go in right away. I'm sure they are still getting used to all of this and they should eat before they see me."

They passed the waiting room and continued down the hall in silence. As they were coming up to the corner it was Waz's turn to stop and consider what was happening in their land.

"Waz?" she asked quietly.

"Sorry, I've been thinking on what's happening. If things are really as bad as they seem, what will the outcome be?" he stated coldly. Caitlin was silent, waiting for Waz to continue, "I don't want to go to war again, and we lost so many the last time we fought Prince Will's brother."

For a moment Caitlin could not speak, the thought of war had not crossed her mind. The last war was eight years ago and lasted for two full years without a pause. Caitlin herself only played a small roll in the war, but she still helped to end it. There was no clear victor but the war ended all the same, each side losing many friends and innocents.

"I'm sure it wouldn't come to that. Prince Will wouldn't allow another war." she said.

Waz nodded slowly as they continued walking to the dining room. They turned and soon the crystal door came into view. They stopped a few feet away from the door and both calmly leaned their backs against the wall to wait.

Silver closed the door behind him them as the Prince walked Jase and the others to the dining table. It was a massive mahogany table and it had every type of food imaginable steaming hot and ready to eat.

They looked on in awe as the Prince smiled and said, "Please, help yourselves to what ever you would like. Silver and I have already dined for this evening."

He walked away and joined Silver at a smaller round table a few paces away from the main table.

"I've never seen so much good looking food in my entire life." Chase said sliding into a chair, his eyes wide.

In minutes they all had a full plate of food in front of them and had all been poured a cold cup of water by one of the servants. Even though they were all famished they retained their dignity and ate calmly. Jase had every type of meat he could find on his plate with a massive helping of mashed potatoes on the side. Tisha has several small pieces of chicken in front of her with an equally small pile of fresh strawberries and a single apple. Chase was dinning on a large piece of meat with a bowel of rice. And finally Tharin had several slices of what seemed like pork with a mound of noodles underneath. Each got a second plate of food, piling it with something different than their first plate. It took about a full two hours for them all to finish eating.

"Oh man, I'm so full I can't move." Tharin said with a smile.

The Prince turned in his chair with a cup of hot tea in hand and stated, "See, I knew you were all hungry." Both Silver and Will finished their tea and stood up. "Did Waz contact you yet Silver?" the Prince asked turning to him.

Silver nodded and replied, "Yes, he and Caitlin are waiting outside the door."

The Prince smiled and said, "Good, have them come in."

Silver closed his eyes for a moment and when he reopened them the door opened and Waz and Caitlin walked through.

"Mrs. Leon?" Tisha said standing from her chair with eyes wide.

"Hello Miss Stevens." she said with a smile. The others rose and surrounded her.

"What are you doing here?" Chase questioned.

"This is my home, I was born in this land." she replied.

"No way, this is your teacher sis? You didn't tell me she was from a different world." Tharin said in amazement.

"I…didn't know." Tisha stammered.

Before they could say anymore Caitlin raised her hand and said, "I'm sorry; right now I can't answer any of your questions."

"Mrs. Leon," Chase asked, "do you know if our friend Miyo is here, have you seen her? I know she's not one of your students but we think she was brought here as well."

Caitlin was silent for a moment before she answered, "No, I'm sorry. I haven't seen anyone here that isn't normally here. In fact I just learned a few moments ago that you were all here."

Prince Will looked with concern to Caitlin as he said, "Silver, Waz, please take our guests to their rooms."

In unison they replied, "Yes sir."

"Wait, can't we at least talk to Mrs. Leon?" Tisha pleaded.

"I'm sorry; you will have to save your questions for tomorrow. I swear you will be able to ask anything you want tomorrow." the Prince replied.

Silver and Waz guided them out the door and up to the fifth floor to their rooms. Tisha and Tharin shared a room and Jase and Chase shared their room right across the hall from them. For a while no one slept, but after an hour or so they were all fast asleep.

The man wearing the cloak walked down the dark gray steps to the basement of Prince Blake's castle and stepped up to an old wooden door. He chanted four words in rapid succession and the door flew open. He entered it without pause and chanted two more words, causing the door to swing close.

The instant his foot touched the first stones of the room hundreds of black candles illuminated the room. A thin smile could be seen across his barely visible face as he pulled a book from one of the numerous shelves in the room and placed it on the single table in the center. He brushed the loose strands of his silky black hair away from his face as he sat in the chair and pulled the book towards him.

The man quietly laughed to himself as he paged through the book and stopped at an entry called "The Legend of the Tears of Miath". His eyes skimmed the first half of the story until he found what he was looking for.

His smile grew larger as he read aloud, "The Lost One, though kind hearted in both soul and mind, may bring destruction to the land if the heart of The Lost One becomes corrupted by evil or the darkness takes over the light in The Lost One's soul. The Lost One has the power to save The Dark One or take away the single shred of light from The Dark One's soul."

That is what he wanted to make sure of, now his plan could take form. He needed to figure out a way to corrupt the girl while at the same time destroy Prince Blake.

"I may serve you now, my sweet Prince, but after I get what I want from this horrid land I shall be a God to all who sees me." the man said coldly. He slammed the book closed and returned it to its place on the shelf as he continued silently, "I also have to find a way to deal with his brother and that other troublesome lot from the Eastern Mountains."

The candles in his room blew out as he walked out of his room and climbed the stairs to the first floor. No one but two guards could be seen on the entire floor, news of Miyo's arrival and the extent of her powers were floating around the castle no doubt, and that was what was keeping everyone in their rooms. The absence of guards and soldiers in the halls made for quick movement as the man walked with haste to the courtyard. The gash Miyo had made in the wall was already repaired, leaving no trace of the confrontation hours before.

He walked to the door Prince Blake had carried Miyo through and walked past the stairs leading to the tower. He stopped and looked back and thought, if he wanted to, he could take her tonight and no one would be the wiser.

"You will be mine soon enough, my dear." he whispered with a smile.

He continued walking and ended up back at the main set of stairs. Instead of going back down to his room he walked up to the third floor. He walked down the hall to a set of enormous wooden doors and opened them. The man cautiously looked around the room, trying to see anyone still present in the dark room.

Upon seeing no one he walked all the way in and closed the door behind him. He needed to research more of what was going on, and the best place to do that was the library. He needed to be one hundred percent certain that Miyo was the one, but he had to wait for the second sign before he could put his plan into action.

"The Prince may think he can control you," he stated to himself, "he may think you two are alike, one," he walked over to the window, "but you have and always will belong to me, my sweet Miyo." His smile grew wider and soon his laughter could be heard throughout the entire third floor.

For the second time in one day Miyo was surrounded by darkness, she looked in every possible direction, but all she saw was more darkness. The odd thing was that she could see her hands and every other part of her body without a source of light. Miyo opened her mouth to call out for someone, anyone, but she had no voice to call out with.

She did not know what had happened to her, the last thing she remembered was the Prince. She had fell after that horrific moment where she could not control her body and he had caught her in his strong, warm arms. What had happened after that she did not know, all she could think of was the Prince's beautiful blue eyes and his strong arms.

"Miyo…" a voice called from the shadows.

Miyo took a step towards where she thought the voice had called from but stopped short for she had no idea if the ground, if it was the ground, continued on or if it would end.

"Miyo…" it called again.

After hearing the voice a second time Miyo realized that it was neither of the male voices she had heard before, but a female voice. She tried to speak again only to hear silence from her throat. Taking a deep breath she forced herself to begin walking forward into the abyss.

While she walked her thoughts turned to Prince Blake, she was so terrified at the time he spoke to her that she did not realize that the Prince's voice sounded oddly familiar to her. It was almost like the first voice that had spoken to her before, but it was harsher, colder. Miyo looked up and gasped as she saw a faint white light in the distance. She began to run towards it, but no matter how fast or hard she ran it did not get any closer.

She stopped and was breathing hard trying to catch her breath when the voice called once again, "Miyo…"

It sounded like the voice was closer now than it had been moments before. Miyo brought her head up to look at the light and could just make out the faintest of blue in the center. She was amazed by how beautiful the light looked surrounded by the emptiness and coldness of the dark.

The voice spoke to her, "Miyo…you have to become stronger. You have to become stronger so that you may call upon me when the time comes."

Suddenly the blue light vanished and the white light began to grow dim. Miyo raised her hand and tried calling to the light but her voice would not come to her. In seconds Miyo was left in total darkness again and she began walking, not knowing where exactly she was going, but not really caring either.

She did not know how long she had walked before she finally stopped, her feet screaming at her for rest. Miyo looked around and soon she sat down. She racked her mind to try and make sense of what was happening to her, and what she had just witnessed. She was in a strange land, was almost killed by monsters, had some sort of power that made her lose control of herself, and now she was surrounded by nothing but blackness.

"Miyo…" a different voice called out.

This voice was male, but again it was not a voice she had heard before. This voice was full of malice and it sounded full of rage. Miyo got to her feet and gazed around the area, only to see nothing. The voice that called her this time put every inch of her on edge, and she knew to trust her senses.

"Miyo." it called again, this time more forcefully and closer to her.

From the corner of her eye Miyo saw a faint glow of red. It was not purely red as Miyo saw, with aid from the light, the black snow she had observed before losing consciousness in the empty lot falling around it. Miyo turned to look at it fully, but before she could do anything more the light flew up to her face.

The light was so intense Miyo closed and shielded her eyes as the voice screamed through her head, "Miyo!"


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

Miyo's eyes flew open and she sat straight up in the bed, her heart racing. Her eyes had to adjust to the dim light of the single candle in the room as she struggled to take everything in. She wiped the sweat from her face and looked down to see a heavy blanket covering her body. She uncovered herself and stood up to walk over to the candle.

The instant her feet touched the floor she wished she had stayed wrapped in the blanket for the room was very cold. She saw her breath come in puffs in front of her face as she reached for the candle and brought it out before her. She tried looking around the room once more, but could not see anything more than she had before.

Miyo walked back to the bed and put a hand against the wall, flinching at the intense cold running through her skin. Biting her lip she followed the wall until her hand brushed against some sort of soft material. Miyo moved it aside and blinked back at the bright sunlight, almost dropping the candle trying to shield her eyes. She dropped the material back in place, walked the candle back to the table, and returned to take the material down from what seemed like a window.

Looking out across the land she sighed and said quietly to herself, "So it wasn't a dream after all."

Miyo saw a guard walking sluggishly up a path, his head dropping every few seconds. A cold wind blew Miyo's hair away from her face and she shrank away from the window. She hastily walked to the bed and wrapped the blanket around her. With the sunlight Miyo could now see the entire room. The blanket and the material that was hanging over the window were pure black, as well as the candle. The room itself was made of dark gray stones, much like the rest of the castle. The single door was very old and worn with a dull silver handle. Miyo walked over to the door and tried the handle only to find that it was locked.

She knocked twice and when no answer came she called, "Hello, is anyone there?" She waited for several minutes with no answer and knocked on the door again, "Hello!" she called.

Miyo sighed, her breath coming out in a large burst in front of her. She walked back to the window and looked out, trying the see the guard again or someone else that might be able to help her, but saw no one. She slumped on the bed wondering what she should do. She was scared that if she stayed in the room she would freeze to death. The morning sun was warming the room a little but not enough to really make a difference.

Her thoughts turned to the previous day when she could not control her body. Miyo brought her hand up to her face and stared at it, it did not look different but it felt different. She could not explain it but she felt some sort of energy flowing through her body. Her expression hardened as she concentrated on that energy and suddenly a black mass formed in her palm.

Miyo's eyes grew wide as she stared at the mass in her hand and stated to herself, "What is this?"

She looked around the room and saw an inside wall that separated part of the room. Focusing she rose from the bed, and threw the now black ball with all her strength. It flew across the room and slammed into the stones, creating a deep gash in the stones much like one she created in the courtyard wall.

Her hands covered her mouth; Miyo could not believe what she had just done. Her eyes moved to the door as a faint shimmer of anger rose within her. Miyo formed another ball in her hand and shot it at the door. It shattered into millions of pieces as the silver handle hit the stone floor with a clang.

As Miyo left the room with a slight smile on her face she felt a dull pain in both of her wrists. She stopped and looked at them noticing that they were both wrapped in a light gray piece of cloth and both had a light line of red across the middle. She touched the left one lightly and it immediately began to flair with pain. Miyo gasped and took her hand away as she remembered the cuffs that where put on her the previous day. She looked down at her knee and then her arm but saw no trace of those wounds.

Miyo shook her head confused and made her way carefully down the stairs. The air was growing warmer as she walked down and entered the main floor. She looked around and did not see anyone, but then again she did not want to see anyone. Miyo wanted to get as far away from the castle as possible. She began walking and soon found herself in front of another set of stairs. She walked past them but came back and ran up them as two guards walked around the corner.

Miyo got to the second floor, but it was littered with guards so she climbed up to the third floor. She found it strange that no one was around, but against her better judgment she stared walking down the hallway. Miyo passed a set of large wooden doors and stopped dead as she heard two guards talking further down the hall, growing closer with each passing second.

Without thinking she opened the large doors, entered, and carefully closed the doors behind her. She took several steps away from the door and held her breath. In two minutes the footsteps of the guards faded away. Miyo let her breath out as she turned away from the door. Her mouth dropped open as she gazed at the enormous library she was in.

There were eight large tables standing before Miyo, each piled high with books. Other than the books and tables the library seemed empty save for a rather large window that brightened the room in brilliant morning light. She walked to the window and looked out to see the courtyard. Four guards were walking through and a man, Alister, was sitting on one of the many stone benches.

Suddenly the door flew open and Abel stormed in and asked hastily, "What do you think you're doing out and about?"

Miyo flinched as she replied, "I'm sorry; I didn't mean anything by it."

His expression softened a little as he questioned, "Who let you out?"

"What?" Miyo asked in confusion.

Abel sighed and asked again, "Who let you out of the room?"

Blushing Miyo replied, "Oh, I um…I'm sorry. I kind of broke the door and let myself out…and just…"

This time it was Abel who was confused, "What? But that's…" Both where silent for some time before Abel took Miyo's hand and began to lead her out of the library, "Well, come on then, I'll take you back."

Panicked Miyo stammered, "Wait, I don't want to go back there."

Abel looked back at her and sighed, "Alright, you must be hungry. I will take you to get something to eat while I talk to Prince Blake."

"Oh," Miyo started, "how did you know where I was?"

Abel smiled and said, "Alister spotted you in the window."

Just before they walked into the hall Miyo stated, "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked.

"For coming to get me, and for being so kind." she replied with a smile.

Abel blushed slightly as he closed the doors behind him. As they walked away a faint laughter filled the library.

Tisha was the first to wake, she immediately felt cold in her and Tharin's room. She shivered and went over to her brother to wake him from his sleep. It took several minutes of nagging and slapping to get him up, and even then he was still not fully awake until his feet touched the cold stones.

"Jeez, don't they have heat in this place?" he asked shivering.

Tisha opened the door and glanced back at him, "I don't think they have central heating in castles Tharin."

"Oh, right." he replied with a blush of embarrassment.

They walked out of their room and across the hall to Jase and Chase's room, and knocked on the door. Tisha waited several minutes and knocked again.

From inside Chase called, "Yeah, I'm coming." The door opened to reveal a very tired looking Chase yawning in the doorway. "What's up?" he said in a yawn.

Tisha replied, "Get Jase up so we can meet The Seer."

Chase yawned again as he questioned, "You want to talk to him this early? What if he's not even up yet?"

Tisha frowned and stated, "Well get him up anyway, if he's not up then we can talk to Prince Will for a while."

Chase nodded and said, "Okay, it will take a while to get him up so give me a few minutes."

Tisha and Tharin walked down the hall a few feet as Chase closed the door. Six minutes later the door opened and Chase and a rough looking Jase walked over to them.

"Took you long enough." Tharin stated as they started walking down the hallway.

Chase laughed as he replied, "Yeah, Jase sleeps like a bear when he eats like we did last night."

They walked down the stairs and stopped on the third floor to see if anyone was there. They went to the dining room and the waiting room but found no one in either. They continued their decent until they got to the main floor and found Waz waiting for them.

"Good morning friends." he said with a smile.

Tisha smiled back and answered, "Good morning sir."

He laughed and stated, "Please, call me Waz. There's no need to be so formal. I'm sure you're eager to see The Seer, but you must wait a few more hours."

Chase shot Tisha a devious glance as he remarked, "See, I told you. We should have slept longer."

Tisha crossed her arms and shot back, "You three would have slept all day if I hadn't have woken you up."

Tharin threw his arms around both of them and said with a laugh, "Okay you guys, calm down. We're up now so let's not go arguing about it."

Waz laughed and said, "Come, you may as well have some breakfast while you wait."

He led them into the main dining hall of the castle a few paces away from the stairs. There were sixteen people in the dining room, only two of them sat by themselves away from the main tables. They found Silver without any trouble and sat beside him, as he was finishing up his meal.

"Is Prince Will awake?" Tisha asked as she piled some fruit and eggs on a plate.

"Oh yes, the Prince has been awake for about four hours already." Silver answered pouring himself a cup of tea.

"Wow, and I thought we woke up early." Tharin said with a smile.

Silver and Waz shared a look before Waz said, "Actually, you were the last ones to rise."

"What?" Chase answered amazed.

"We were beginning to get worried that you would sleep through breakfast." Silver stated.

Tisha and the others did not eat as much as they had the previous night and they ate faster. All were silent as the room began to empty, every so often the ones in the room shot the group a glance before they left. Silver and Waz took notice of this, as did the others.

"Perhaps we should get you a change of clothes after you've eaten." Waz stated.

Four minutes later they were climbing back up to the fifth floor.

"You'll have to wait in your rooms while we obtain some new clothes for you." Waz said.

Once outside their rooms Waz and Silver headed down the opposite way and entered a room out of sight.

"I hope they give us something comfortable to wear." Jase said looking down and his t-shirt and jeans.

Tisha shook her head and replied, "Don't complain Jase, what ever they give us will be fine."

In a few minutes they were all in their rooms changing. Chase, Tharin, and Jase all had similar garbs; brown and gray pants and a shirt with dark brown boots. Chase and Tharin had a dark blue overlay and Jase had a light blue overlay. Tisha wore a light brown skirt with light gray stockings, a dark brown shirt that buttoned in the front and had a beautiful green overlay with the same dark brown boots. They mused at their new clothes before starting down the hallway again.

"I'm sorry if your clothes aren't to your liking, but we're a little spared for clothing right now." Silver said.

"Well I love mine." Tisha said looking down at herself with a smile.

Chase nodded and stated, "They may not be much to look at but they are really comfortable."

"Chase!" Tisha shouted.

Waz and Silver laughed and Silver remarked, "Don't worry about it, I'm sure that the Prince will have a set of different clothes made for you all."

Once down to the main floor again they made their way to the throne room. Waz knocked on the beautiful white and golden door once and the Prince's voice called through the door, "Come!"

Waz opened the door to reveal the beautiful throne room bathed in the warm light of the morning sun. Prince Will was sitting in his throne with Imazo and Inazo standing beside him. Waz and Silver walked Tisha and the others into the room, bowed at the Prince, and then took their place beside Imazo and Inazo.

"Friends, you look wonderful this morning." Will stated smiling. They each smiled in turn while the Prince rose from his seat and continued, "You need only to wait one more hour before you speak with The Seer, so please make yourselves comfortable as you wait." Will then walked out of the room opposite where the others had entered.

"Oh," Chase said suddenly, "is Mrs. Leon around this morning?"

Silver took several seconds to think before he answered, "Caitlin? Yes she is here, but Prince Will has ordered her to remain in her room until the rest of you visit with The Seer."

Tisha frowned and questioned, "Is it really so important that we learn nothing before we see this Seer?"

Waz nodded and replied, "It is, The Seer requested that he inform you himself of your situation to make absolutely certain you understand everything clearly."

They sat in silence for only half of an hour before Prince Will came back into the throne room, "Come my friends, The Seer will see you now."

Chase and the others followed Will out of the room as Silver, Waz, and the women remained behind. Without a word Will lead them down the stairs to The Seer's door, once there he paused and said, "I will not be coming in the room with you, but remember to choose your words wisely while speaking with him." The Prince knocked on the door and began walking up the stairs.

"Come in." The Seer called from behind the door. Jase opened the door and walked in followed shortly by the others.

Abel led Miyo back down to the main floor and into the dinning room.

"I hope you don't mind eating in the kitchen. I would let you eat out here, but I'm afraid the others might not take kindly to that." Abel said opening the door to the kitchen.

"Oh, I understand." Miyo replied a little saddened.

She knew why they might not like the idea of her dining with them, especially after what happened the previous night. The kitchen was no less glamorous then the rest of the castle, the dull gray stones looked brighter with the morning sun as a single large window let in a cool breeze from the east side of the castle. In the distance a dense fog was beginning to lighten and a light blanket of snow was melting to reveal a path of stones and pebbles leading down the mountain.

"Now help yourself to what ever you would like, I will be back in a few minutes." Abel stated as he began walking out the door. Miyo nodded and had just stared walking to a bowl of blueberries before Abel poked his head back into the kitchen and said sternly, "And stay here, don't go wondering again."

Before Miyo could answer he was gone once again. Grabbing a handful of blueberries she sank into one of the chairs beside one of the tables. It took several moments before Miyo started popping the berries into her mouth. Her eyes widened; the blueberries were unlike anything she had ever tasted. She was not a fan of most fruit but the bowl of blueberries was the closest thing to her when she walked in and she was famished.

The berries were rich with flavor and so incredibly juicy that she soon found herself craving more. Miyo's stomach, however, demanded more than just blueberries so she took one more handful and began wandering around the kitchen in search of more food. She found a plate of cooked eggs with cheese still steaming and searched for a fork.

Miyo did not want to go rummaging through drawers so she walked to the sink and peered in. She grimaced as she looked at the grimy water and a small amount of soap bubbles that had turned brown. She held her breath and almost submerged her hands before pulling it back out. Miyo did not want to risk infecting the wounds on her wrist by touching filthy dishwater.

She stared at her hands with disgust as they were coated with a think layer of grease and glistened like the stones in the sunlight. She turned the water on and washed her hands twice with a bar of soap making sure not to get the pieces of cloth on her wrists wet. By some sort of miracle she spotted a spoon lying out on one of the other tables, it was not a fork but it was better than nothing.

Miyo washed the spoon three times for good measure then sat down to eat the plateful of eggs, pausing a moment to decide if the food belonged to someone then finally eating. It only took her several moments to eat the entire plateful and she savored every bite. Instead of putting the plate and spoon in the sink Miyo washed them and sat them in the drain next to the sink. She found a glass easier than she did the spoon and got herself a cold glass of water.

Taking a third handful of blueberries she sat down and sighed while popping the berries into her mouth, thinking about what she was going to do. Today would be Saturday, were people looking for her? Tisha would most defiantly be worried, they were supposed to go shopping today and they never passed up a chance to buy new clothes. Miyo had been feeling down lately and Tisha had suggested that going shopping would take her mind off of everything and brighten her up.

She popped two blueberries into her mouth at a time until they were gone; she wanted more but thought better of it. If she ate too much she might get sick and she did not want to come off as a glutton to her new friends. The thought stuck in her head…_friends_? What right had she to call them her friends? She hardly knew any of them, and had only really spoken to Abel. They seemed like good people to her, they had attempted to kill her but she was still alive now.

Abel walked hastily from the dining room out to the main hallway. All the way his thoughts kept thinking back to what the girl had said. How was it possible that she got out of the tower by herself? Prince Blake had invoked her powers last night, but for them to even scratch the tower's seal they had to be stronger than both he and Alister combined, and the thought of her actually breaking the seal was unthinkable.

Abel had just reached the throne room when Alister called behind him, "Abel! Did you get the girl, where is she?"

Abel turned to him and replied, "Yes, she is in the kitchen getting something to eat."

Alister's face darkened and demanded, "You left her alone, what if she flees? She's not one to be trusted."

Abel shook his head and stated, "She's not going anywhere."

"Well it will be your head if she does run. How did she get out of the tower anyway?" he said.

"Forgive me, Alister, but I must talk to Prince Blake. Come with me, please, you will learn everything." Abel said.

Alister's face softened as he nodded and replied, "Of course."

Abel turned back to the black and silver door and knocked.

Several seconds later Integra opened the door and demanded, "What is it?!" Both Abel and Alister bowed before her cold voice.

"Forgive us, my lady, but we must speak with Prince Blake imminently." Abel replied.

Integra sneered and slammed the door in their faces.

Several minutes later Integra called, "Come!"

Abel took a deep breath as Alister said, "I hope you know what you are doing."

Abel opened the door and the two walked in, the Prince did not like to be bothered, and even if something had happened he replied crossly to whom ever disturbed him. He was sitting on his throne with Integra sitting on the floor beside him, her left arm wrapped around his leg. Abel and Alister walked up to his throne and bowed with their hearts racing.

"Abel, Alister, I would assume you remember the reason why I sit alone." the Prince stated coldly.

A drop of sweat formed on Abel's forehead as he answered, "Yes sir, forgive me but I did not know what other choice I had."

Blake sighed and demanded, "Well out with it then."

Both men flinched at the Prince's harshness, his voice seeming cold enough to freeze over lava. "Well sir, it's about the girl, she…she's…" Abel stammered and tried to speak again only to find a lump in his throat.

"Speak you fool!" Integra shouted in fury.

A shudder went through Abel as he continued, "She broke through the seal on the tower."

Alister's eyes grew wide with disbelief as Integra laughed at him, "Don't be ridiculous, her power isn't that advanced. She's just a little girl and even I would have problems breaking that seal."

Abel swallowed and stated, "It's true, I swear it on my life. She's sitting in the kitchen right now and told me herself."

Integra laughed again and looked at the Prince. She soon quieted when she saw the look on his face. It was not anger or disbelief, he was actually smiling.

He rose and said, "I don't believe how strong she has become in such a short time." he snickered a bit before he continued, "Broke the tower seal you say?"

Unable to speak at the odd sight of the Prince Abel nodded and caused Prince Blake to break out in a fit of laughter. Everyone was stunned; none of them had ever seen Prince Blake in such a good mood before.

Blake's laughter died away as he looked at Abel and said, "Thank you Abel. This news is most amusing, and I intend to see her immediately. You said she is in the kitchen?"

Abel nodded again and managed to reply, "Yes sir, I figured she needed something to eat."

Without another word he walked out of the throne room and closed the door behind him. Abel, Alister, and Integra started after him in silence as a second fit of laughter echoed in the halls.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

The door to the kitchen flew open with such force the metal handle smashed against a cupboard door. Miyo jumped at the defining sound and was imminently on her feet looking to see what had made such a noise. She felt her cheeks warm at the site of Prince Blake, but her face soon turned pale as she took in his features. His calm blue eyes had changed to a deep crimson and his hair seemed to be an even darker shade of black.

"My dear princess, good morning." he said very softly.

Miyo caught the slightest hint of darkness in his voice, and was silent for several seconds before answering him, "Good morning…sir."

The Prince came fully into the kitchen, closing the door quietly behind him as he remarked, "My name is Blake, not sir."

She looked at him with confusion and questioned, "But so informally? You're a prince; you should be addressed like one."

The Prince laughed and said, "Well if you must insist you may call me Prince Blake. Abel tells me he sent you here to eat, is this true?"

Miyo nodded and said, "Yes, I had several handfuls of blueberries and a plate of eggs."

Blake scoffed at this and put a hand to his head almost as if in pain, "You're a guest in my castle yet you eat like the peasants who work in the fields." He sat in the chair opposite of where Miyo had been sitting and motioned her to sit before he continued, "How did you break the seal that was on the tower door?"

"What?" she questioned.

"There was a seal on the door to ensure no one could go in or out without removing or breaking the seal." he stated sitting back, his eyes never leaving hers.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't see anything that looked like a seal, I just thought it was locked."

The Prince considered this before he said, "Tell me how you got out, and do not leave out any details. I want to know everything."

Miyo began when she awoke and ended when she walked out the door, making sure to tell him everything she felt. Prince Blake listened intently, his red eyes never wavering from the green pools of Miyo's.

When Miyo was finished Prince Blake closed his eyes and was silent for some time. He could not understand how it was possible for her to have broken the seal on the door. He knew the power within her was said to be great, but they had been dormant until the previous night. He could not even imagine what she would be capable of if her power awoken fully and she could use it to her will.

Blake opened his eyes to reveal their natural blue color, rose, and said, "Come, I will take you back."

Miyo rose but did not move an inch as her eyes struggled to meet his, "I…I don't want to go back to that room."

The two stared at one another and the Prince replied, "Alright, under the circumstances, and only just this once, I don't think Abel and Alister would mind if you spent the day with them." Miyo's expression lightened as he continued, "I had them prepare a room for you last night so you don't have to go back to the tower tonight."

Blake led Miyo out of the kitchen, through the dining room, and out into the main hall.

"Excuse me Prince Blake, but when you first came in you called me princess. Was there a reason for that?" she asked looking up to him.

He turned to her and stated, "You look like a princess, isn't that sufficient enough?"

Miyo looked down, she had always felt different from others but she most certainly did not look or feel like a princess. They walked together to the throne room before Blake bade Miyo farewell and entered without her. Five seconds later she was greeted by Abel and Alister.

"Hello Miss, it is good to see you again." Alister said with a slight smile.

Miyo smiled in return and Abel said, "The Prince would like you to bear us company today."

They began walking out to the courtyard as Miyo replied, "Yes, I promise to stay out of your way as you go through the day."

Alister and Abel shared a look of concern as they walked into the courtyard.

The Seer was sitting at the main table, his eyes closed as Tisha and the others walked in. Three extra chairs were set on the other side of him and the morning sun was being blocked out with a think piece of cloth.

"Please," The Seer stated, "take a seat and make yourselves comfortable." Each took a seat in turn, trying to stay as quiet as possible. "You want to know why you have been brought to this land, yes?" The Seer asked keeping his eyes closed.

"Yes, and also where exactly we are." Chase replied.

Slowly The Seer opened his eyes to look upon his visitors.

Each gasped at his red eyes, and he smiled deviously, "Ah yes, red is an unusual eye color for your world is it not?" None could say a word as The Seer began, "You are in a land called Hethron, and it is very different from the world you are familiar with. For some time now this land has been plagued with war and death. Prince Will, residing over the East, and Prince Blake, dominating over the West, have always had their differences. They were both born twenty-eight years ago to a witch and wizard."

Tisha and the others shared a feeling of disbelief but they kept silent as The Seer continued, "Long before the twins were even born there lived two humans who founded this land. The first was a handsome man whose hair and eyes were as deep and vivid as fresh spilled blood, his name was Kiyo. The second was a beautiful woman whose hair was as white as moonlight and whose eyes were as crystal blue as the clearest lake, her name was Miath. They were both deeply in love with each other, and worked together to keep the land of Hethron safe and pure. One day Kiyo got an offer from a demon lord he could not refuse. The demon promised Kiyo that he and Miath would be able to live forever in peace, and that they would be forever able to protect the land of Hethron. Kiyo agreed without hesitation."

Jase shifted in his chair and asked, "Demons are bad, right? Why would he agree to do anything with a demon if he was good?"

The Seer smiled at him, his eyes glowing, "Not all demons are evil, and this was a time when humans and demons lived together in peace without fearing one another."

Closing his eyes he continued, "The demon cast a spell on Kiyo and turned him into a great black dragon and stated that if he could get Miath to accept the same fate as he, the spell would be complete. However, if she did not, the two would remain cursed for all time and be forever enemies. Kiyo knew in his heart that Miath would gladly accept if it meant being with him forever. With his mighty wings he flew to Miath's side, not hearing the demon's laughter behind him."

"At the site of Kiyo's new form Miath was shocked into tears for she knew that the demon Kiyo had made the deal with was really a fox spirit in disguise of the demon lord. The fox spirit knew that Kiyo would fall into his trap for Miath would never be selfish enough to want immortality. Kiyo pleaded with Miath to accept the fate of the spell, but every time he asked she refused with tears of sorrow. No form of magic would be able to change Kiyo back and reverse the curse of the fox spirit. Soon the curse took over Miath and changed her into the form of a dragon, however she was white and her love for Kiyo soon turned into hate."

"Day after day they fought and with time their battles raged on nearby villages. They would slash and bite at one another and their intense flames spelled certain death for all who was caught in the middle of it. As time passed Miath's grief grew more and more and became much stronger. She felt betrayed by Kiyo and the tears she cried became equally as strong. Several years passed before Miath wished with all her being that something would aid her in her fight with Kiyo."

"Was Miath weaker than Kiyo?" Tisha asked when The Seer broke. By this time everyone had become entranced by the story and one by one they believed it to be true.

The Seer's eyes remained closed as he answered her, "No, they were both equal in strength. Miath could not bring herself to fight Kiyo at full strength."

Jase leaned back in his chair and stated, "Because deep down she still loved him."

"Correct." he replied and with that he continued, "As Miath was crying that night her tears transformed into spirits. The first was said to be a warrior spirit who used a sword and his piercing blue eyes and fierce blond hair would send enemies fleeing, his name was Venal. The second was a protector spirit who used an enormous mace to crush enemies where they stood, his name was Bolum. The third was a female and was named for her free spirit and wild nature, she was very skilled with using her fists, her name was Fanami. The fourth was the strong spirit Gimano who used his great bow and arrow to eliminate all who oppose him. These four were all who were supposed to aid Miath, but she shed a fifth and final tear. Azara, the lost spirit, appeared before them all. She was one of the strongest of all spirits in existence but also one of the most dangerous. Azara used her skills with black and white magic to silence all of her foes, although she preferred to use black magic."

"The next meeting of Miath and Kiyo would be their last as Kiyo was overtaken by the five spirits. With his last breath he cursed Miath and called her a coward for having others fight for her. Soon after this Miath sealed herself away as she could not bear to live through the days without Kiyo." At this The Seer stopped and opened his eyes.

"So when you say she sealed herself away that means she's still alive right?" Tharin questioned.

The Seer nodded and replied, "Yes, she is. She is in a deep sleep a few hours walk from this castle. She will not awaken unless Kiyo returns to this land."

The four shared a look before Tisha asked, "What happened to the spirits, were they sealed away too?"

"No," he stated, "once they awaken spirits cannot be sealed or go back to their own realm until the one who summoned them either releases them or is killed. Because Miath was so grief stricken she never released them before she sealed herself away. The spirits' power weakened significantly when Miath went into her sleep so to combat this they possessed others."

"Wait a minute, possessed?" Chase inquired, "I thought they were good spirits, isn't possession something evil spirits do?"

The Seer smiled once again and sent a chill running down everyone's spine. "I never said anything about them being good spirits; however, they are neither good nor evil. They aid their masters regardless of their position and act on their own only when it is a benefit to them."

Tharin was next to speak, "So where are they now?"

The Seer blinked slowly and rose from his chair, his red eyes blazing before them. "That," he began, "is the reason why you four are here now."

Chase's eyes widened as he grasped the situation, "You can't possibly mean…"

The Seer walked to one of the many cabinets and returned with five candles, each a different color. "These five candles represent each sprit's power and each one of you." The Seer stated as he took his seat once again.

All were quite, eager to hear was he had to say next. "Jase Mathia," he said as his red eyes met Jase's pale blue spheres, "your brown hair will turn blond and your eyes will turn green as you become Bolum, The Protector."

"So they're inside us? How's that possible?" Tharin questioned.

"They entered your bodies the second your feet touched this land. It was Miath's power that brought you here." The Seer stated and, looking into Chase's eyes, continued, "Chase Devin, you are destined to have the pure white hair and red eyes of Gimano, The Strong."

Chase's eyes fell from The Seer as he moved on to Tharin. "Tharin Stevens, you will bind all five spirits together as Venal, The Warrior."

His eyes finally looked to Tisha, her eyes quivering. All hearts were beating fast as The Seer reveled the final spirit, "Tisha Stevens, you have been blessed with Fanami, The Free."

Tisha breathed deep in relief as Jase stated the obvious, "That must mean Miyo is here, and if that's the case then…"

"Miyo Richards, I am sorry to say, is plagued with Azara, The Lost." The Seer said finishing for him.

Silence rang through the room as each realized the gravity of what The Seer had just said.

"I don't mean to be rude," Jase started, "but how do we know what you say is true? I mean in our reality dragons and demons don't even exist, and for all we know you could have swapped the story around at you could be the bad guys."

The room grew cold as The Seer glared at the four sitting before him and the light from the candles grew dim. Their hearts began to race once more as they remembered the warning Prince Will had given them before they entered The Seer's room.

"So," he started in a voice as cold as the room had become, "you doubt everything I have just told you and view it as a lie."

Jase's eyes grew wide as he tried to defend himself, "No, that's not what I meant at all. It's just, this is all so much information and it's so unreal that I think this is all a dream."

The Seer's expression softened as the candles regained their brilliance and the room grew warmer, however his voice remained cold as he stated, "Believe me when I tell you that this is not a dream, and these events are quite real."

"If…sorry, since this is real, what are we supposed to do? With these spirits inside us does that mean we're here for a reason?" Chase questioned.

The Seer's eyes fell to the five candles and replied, "These candles represent the spirits' power inside each of you. At this moment the spirits are sleeping within you, before we go any further each of you must awaken your power and learn how to use it."

Tisha's expression hardened as she asked, "And then what?"

"You will learn when the time comes." Tisha looked down, unsatisfied with The Seer's answer.

A moment passed before Jase asked, "What about Miyo? We have to go find her."

The Seer shook his head slowly, his eyes blazing. All four sets of eyes grew wide but before any could say a word The Seer stated his reason, "As I told Prince Will last night, Miyo Richards is quite safe. Her life is not in any danger nor will it be if events continue as they are now."

"She's with the Prince's brother, isn't she?" Tisha asked nervously.

The Seer looked deep within her emerald eyes as he spoke, "She is, but as I have said she is safe." Tisha nodded and The Seer continued, "You must understand that the power inside your friend is very dangerous and if we act with hast instead of caution we will put this entire land in danger."

All nodded in turn but were silent, taking in all that The Seer had said. The Seer dismissed them and they got up to leave. "I will send for you all when your powers awaken." he promised as they said thank you and good-bye and left his room.

Prince Blake slipped into his throne wearing a smile; Integra was off to his right with her arms crossed. Blake's eyes were cast upward, his eyes following the details on the ceiling as Integra glared a deep hole into the Prince's face.

"I don't believe you, you're actually enjoying yourself." she snarled.

Without being distracted from the ceiling he asked, "Can I not enjoy myself every once in a while?"

Walking over to him she took her place by his side and replied, "Yes, but you never laughed or smiled like this before that girl came here, not even with me."

The Prince looked at her and stroked her long blond hair, "I will keep my promise to you, I at least owe you that much."

Integra moved away from his reach and said, "You may keep your promise, but as long as that girl is here the thing I want most will forever be out of my grasp."

Prince Blake looked questionably at her and asked, "What?"

Integra turned and walked calmly out of the throne room, the door closing silently behind her. Once away from the Prince's eyes she ran to the second floor, down the hall, and entered one of the rooms, her personal room. She slammed the door shut and pressed her back against it, sliding down to the floor tears poured down her face.

It was true; Prince Blake did not know the extent of her feelings for him. He promised her that she could stay with him forever and rule by his side, but he did not love her as she did him. A few days before the little pest came to the castle Integra had made Blake feel a little warmer towards her. She thought if she continued to pressure him on the matter then maybe he would grow to love her. She wiped her tears away in vain as more spilled over and hit the stone floor in silence.

Integra got to her feet as she struggled to keep her tears from falling. She walked over to her window and looked out to see the sun just slightly higher than the mountains to the east. She had to do something, anything, to get that little girl out of the picture so Prince Blake would fall in love with her.

Integra moved her eyes to the right of the mountains and a smile spread across her face. Why had she not thought of this the very instant the girl began to pose a threat? She turned to one of her dressers and pulled out a vile of deep purple liquid and six pieces of silver. She then turned to a larger dresser and withdrew a black cloak.

"I'll show both of you just how dangerous I can be." she stated coldly as she walked back out of her room.

Integra walked back down to the main floor with the vile and silver tucked safely in her pocket and the cloak under her arm. She walked with haste to the main door and addressed the guard there, "If Price Blake asks my whereabouts tell him I went on a walk and that I will return in a few hours."

"Yes, my lady." he replied with a bow.

She walked out the door and down a slight slope to the gate, a tense fury in her eyes. Stopping Integra looked up and demanded, "Avagon, open the gate!"

An aged goblin glanced down and upon seeing who called bowed fast and grabbed for the lever that operated the gate. Within seconds the gate opened and Integra stormed out, throwing the cloak around her as she went.

The gate closed as quickly as it had opened and the gate guard Avagon looked after Integra taking a deep breath. The goblin could sense her fury and hoped that whom ever or what ever it was that had made her angry would be dealt with as soon as possible.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Miyo sat silently on one of the few benches located within the courtyard, her eyes drifting back and forth between the areas where she was chained the previous day and Alister and Abel.

"Please, we ask you to keep your distance while we train." Abel stated calmly.

Miyo nodded and the two shared another concerned look. It was quite clear that Miyo was not happy or enjoying herself, but Prince Blake had just said for her to bear Abel and Alister company, not to enjoy herself. Alister walked twelve paces away from Abel and both drew their swords.

Miyo was not looking directly at them as Abel charged Alister. Their swords collided with such velocity that Miyo's eyes flew up just in time to see Alister fall to one knee and jump back from Abel's second strike. Alister flew forward and the two swords collided again, the sound ringing through the entire courtyard.

Miyo's eyes grew wide as she whispered to herself, "They said training…didn't they?"

Abel's intense blue eyes glistened bright against the silver strands of hair in his face as he smiled at Alister tauntingly, "You need more strength behind your attacks my friend."

Alister struggled for only a second before he shoved Abel off. Their swords clashed hundreds of times before they stopped, neither of them breathing hard or showing signs of tiredness. Miyo watched every second, her eyes wide with both disbelief and excitement. They moved so fast with so much power she did not dare believe what her eyes were telling her, but her heart knew it was no trick or illusion.

"Well, are you tired of swinging that hunk of metal around?" Abel asked with his left arm rising.

Alister smiled and raised his arm in return, "I thought we were going to do this all day."

Once Alister had finished talking both sent a furious wave of dark energy at one another, and both dodged away with ease. Alister followed up with a second blast aimed right at Abel's chest. Abel did not have time to dodge this blast and once it connected with his chest he was sent flying and crashed into the western wall of the courtyard.

Alister smiled, taking a defensive stance he shouted, "You need more speed with your doges my friend."

Miyo and Alister could hear Abel begin to laugh as he sat up and looked directly at Alister. Without a word Abel yelled an incantation and Alister was blasted back, crashing into the eastern wall. Abel rose and sheathed his sword as he walked over to Alister's side. He put out his hand and Alister grabbed it with a smile in return as Abel pulled him to his feet.

Sheathing his own sword Alister commented, "You have improved."

Throwing his arm around Alister's shoulder Abel replied, "As have you."

The two had only been fighting for ten minutes but they traded more blows and dodges than a battle waging between opposing countries.

Miyo stood as the two walked over to the bench she was sitting at and said in amazement, "That was amazing, you two are quite a pair."

"Thank you Miyo, but this was nothing compared to what Prince Blake is capable of." Abel replied.

Miyo's face reddened and she stated flustered, "Oh, really? He must be very powerful."

Alister frowned and questioned, "Is something wrong?"

Miyo clamed herself and stated, "No, I'm sorry it's just, that's the first time anyone has called me by my name since I came here."

Abel and Alister looked at each other and smiled. "Would you like to learn, Miyo?" Alister asked pulling his sword out of its sheath for the second time.

Miyo brightened but then withdrew as she answered, "What? Oh no, I couldn't possibly use a sword. I've never even held a real sword before, how could I even think about using it?"

"Everyone has to start somewhere, here." Abel said pulling out his own sword and handing it to Miyo. "Alister can keep his strength under control better than I can." he finished taking a seat where Miyo had been previously.

Unable to argue with the two Miyo walked with Alister back out to the center of the courtyard.

"Don't worry, we'll practice your defenses until you get used to the weight of the sword. I promise you won't get hurt." Alister assured her.

Miyo nodded and held the sword out with the sharp side of the blade facing up.

"Here," Abel called and walked over, he stood behind her and took hold of her arms lightly and repositioned the sword in her hands, " hold it with the edge facing down, bring your hands a little further apart and hold it tight so it doesn't slip."

Abel nodded to Alister and he struck against Abel's sword. Miyo shut her eyes as Alister's sword drew nearer and she flinched against Abel's body once it hit. Able looked down at her with amusement, she took the hit very well but she flinched away instead of absorbing the hit.

"Sorry, was that too strong?" Alister asked concerned, his eyes noticing the joyfulness in Abel's eyes.

"No," Miyo replied, "it was just a little scary. I'll do better on the next one."

Abel stayed behind her for the next two strikes then moved away once the third hit was coming down. Miyo took the blows easier than either Alister or Abel could have guessed. She no longer closed her eyes after the fourth strike and both could tell that she was beginning to enjoy herself.

"Okay, now you come at me. I'll position myself the same way you were so you don't have to worry about defending yourself." Alister said.

Miyo nodded as Alister took his defensive stance. She slowly advanced towards him, but both he and Abel's attention were on the library window. The man wearing the cloak was standing a few feet away from the glass, and Prince Blake had his arm pressed lightly against it looking intently at the three. Without warning Miyo slammed Abel's sword into Alister's. Alister was almost knocked off balance by the blow delivered to him by Miyo.

"Oops, I'm sorry. You weren't ready were you?" Miyo stammered looking embarrassed.

"No, no that was very good Miyo. You took advantage of your opponent's distraction and hit with perfect strength." Alister replied regaining his composure.

"Wow Miyo, I thought you said you never held a sword before." Abel remarked in surprise.

Miyo laughed a little and replied, "I haven't, but holding this sword seems so natural to me for some reason."

Alister smiled to himself, even some of the Silver Knights who had held a sword since childhood were not capable of the fierce swing she had done.

"Miyo, you were watching when Abel and myself were fighting, yes?" Alister asked.

Nodding she answered, "Yes, I saw everything."

Alister looked at Abel, who returned with a shrug and stated, "I want to fight you for real now, I swear I'll go easy on you but I want to see what you can do."

Miyo could feel her heart begin to race, but she trusted Alister so she nodded and took up a stance much like Abel had used during training. Abel backed away and his eyes drifted back up to the library window where the Prince was watching with intense blue eyes.

Alister raced at Miyo and slammed his sword into Abel's, making Miyo's arms go numb on impact. She almost lost her grip on the sword but managed to regain her grip and returned a strike to Alister. He took the hit and returned with an even stronger blow than his first. Through all of this both Abel and Alister wondered if they were doing the right thing by training Miyo. If anything happened to her because of them the Prince's fury would rain down on them for many days, perhaps forever.

Alister's next attack knocked Miyo down onto her back but Alister did not back down from his assault. Abel almost ran in to stop Alister but he stopped when he saw the look in Miyo's eyes. She rolled out of the way of Alister's next blow and continued to roll onto her feet. Both challenged the other to make a move but Alister lowered his sword as he saw Miyo's beautiful green eyes dissolve into deadly pools of red. Alister's heart began to race as he recalled what had happened the previous night.

"Alister!" Abel called, "You have to get her to calm down!"

Alister nodded and put a hand out, "Miyo," he began but stopped short.

Miyo's body was not tense as it had been last night as she replied with a struggle, "I'm fine, I…still have control over my body."

She lowered Abel's sword a few inches and closed her eyes, her head was blazing with pain and her wrists began to warm with pain again. While her eyes were closed she caught glimpses of the red light she had seen in her dream earlier that morning. Miyo did not know how long she kept her eyes closed, when she opened them she was laying on the ground with Abel and Alister standing over her.

"Miyo, are you alright?" Abel asked with deep concern in his eyes.

"Yes, thank you I'm fine." she replied and got to her feet with help from both.

"We were afraid you lost consciousness again." Alister said.

"How long was I out?" she asked.

Alister thought for a minute and replied, "Only about three minutes."

Miyo looked around, she was in the same place she had been before. When she fell Alister had caught her but they were afraid to move her without further investigation. Miyo saw Abel's sword lying on the ground a few inches from where she had stood. She walked over and picked it up cautiously; afraid she might loose control if she touched it again. When she held it for several seconds without incident she carried it back and handed it to Abel.

"Thank you." he said with a smile, "I'm sorry but we have other matters to see to right now. If you want you can rest here until we are finished."

Miyo considered this for a few moments, she was tired but something about being alone scared her greatly.

"I think I'll come along with you two, if you don't mind." Miyo said with a small smile.

Abel nodded and replied with a smile of his own, "Of course we don't mind, but if we're going to be seen by others then maybe we should get you a change of clothes."

Miyo looked down at herself and almost cried out with astonishment. Her light blue shirt and jeans were filthy with dirt and spots of dried blood. She could not believe how dirty she was, and she wasn't even aware of it. Miyo noticed for the first time that both of her jeans legs were torn, she was guessing it happened when she fell yesterday.

"Come with us, we will take you to your room." Alister said walking away with Abel.

"Wait," Miyo called after them, "are we going to the tower?"

Abel and Alister turned, as Abel replied, "No, we prepared a room for you. That is where you will be staying tonight."

Miyo's smile grew wide as she nodded and followed them, remembering what the Prince had said to her earlier. They walked into the main part of the castle and started up the stairs to the fifth floor. Alister led the way to a beautiful door and opened it. The room was even more beautiful than the door; there were numerous unlit candles, two dressers and one medium sized window with a ledge to sit on.

"We hope it's to your liking." Abel said and smiled.

Miyo's eyes were wide with wonder as she stepped into the room and stated, "It's gorgeous, I couldn't have asked for more." She turned back to them and continued, "Thank you both so much."

Alister took hold of the door handle and stated, "Forgive us, but you only have one option of clothing to choose from at the moment. We only had time to find you one dress."

Miyo nodded and thanked the two again, and as Alister was pulling the door closed Abel stopped him and stated, "Miyo, we are so sorry for how we treated you yesterday."

Miyo's expression softened as she nodded a third time and Alister closed the door. She walked over to the bed and saw a pile of clothes lying on top of the covers. She glanced out the window for a second before walking back to the bed and stripped off her shoes, socks, pants, and shirt.

Miyo put the dress on, it came down a few inches above her knees and it was a beautiful dark brown with several inlays of bright green. Noticing the neck line draping off her shoulders she lowered the noticeable straps of her bra to below the dress. Once everything about the dress was to her liking she grabbed the pair of leggings and put them on under the dress. They did not go down as far as they should have but she was glad to have them.

Miyo was not a dress person, and she did not like to show more skin than she had to, but when she saw herself in the mirror her breath was taken away. Her hair was messier than usual, but the dress fit perfectly to her form and it somehow made her skin glow. She tried her best to fix her hair before she put her shoes back on and walked out of the room. She found Abel and Alister waiting for her on the other side of the hall, when they saw her both of their eyes widened and their faces reddened slightly.

"Miyo…" Abel stammered.

"You look beautiful." Alister finished.

Miyo blushed and thanked them. Alister led the way back down to the main floor, as they passed several people on the way each stared at Miyo as they passed.

"We need to talk to Avagon first, and then we must see Razno and Shiva before we get to the end of our day. You are fortunate we do not need to go outside the castle gate today." Abel stated.

"Especially when you look the way you do, we would constantly be protecting you." Alister joked.

The three walked out to the gate and Abel turned to Miyo stating, "I'm afraid you'll have to stay down here."

She must have looked a little scared because Alister touched her shoulder and stated, "Don't worry, just don't wander away and you'll be fine."

Miyo nodded and Alister and Abel turned and began to climb the ladder leading to the top walkway of the gate.

"She did not see Avagon but a slightly raspy voice floated down, "Hello Master Abel and Master Alister. What can I do for you today?"

Miyo turned and leaned against the aged wood of the gate, Avagon sounded like a nice person and he was very kind to Abel and Alister so he must be okay. Many people were walking around the grounds now that it was mid afternoon, most were dressed in suites of silver armor and wore either swords or lances at their waists.

Miyo stayed unnoticed by most but the ones who did notice her had to look back at her two or three times to make sure their eyes were not deceiving them. She could no longer hear Avagon and suspected that Alister or Abel had told him to speak quietly so she or anyone else could not hear their conversation.

Miyo stood for about nine minutes before she saw two armored men walking towards her. Their armor was a little different from the others she had seen. The larger of the two had bright red hair and intense green eyes that were looking directly into hers. The smaller man had the same green eyes but had such beautiful sliver hair it reminded Miyo of starlight.

"Well now, what do we have here brother?" the red haired man asked the other.

The silver haired man replied with a slight smile, "It looks like a little mouse that has lost her way."

Miyo's heart began to race as she noticed the intention in the two's eyes, what she saw was hunger and she soon knew why when she remembered what she was wearing.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

Once Integra left the castle grounds she headed south towards a large lake, her rage growing with every step. In her mind she was recalling the old legend that her late aunt used to tell her on cold stormy nights by the fire.

_ "In the days of old there was no entity that was "good" or "evil", there was only light and darkness. Dragons, fairies, mermen, witches, sorcerers, Gods, Goddesses, all lived together in harmony. No one is sure why the Great War started, or how it ever began. Some blame it on the dragons, others say the elves are to blame, but I believe it was forces outside our world that led to so many of our people and friends' deaths._

_ At the end of the war a testament was made that labeled all users of light magic to be viewed as forces of good, and all users of dark magic to be labeled as forces of evil. This, as you know, created rifts in family branches, most notably the elves and sorcerers. Many dismissed the treaty at first but as the years went on more and more beings began to fear the powers of darkness and most ceased to use their powers all together._

_Dragons themselves, whether users of light or darkness, started to appear more and more fierce to all who saw them, and as a result of this elves and sorcerers from all around the land were hired to hunt them down and exterminate them. This is the reason why there are so few dragons roaming the land today."_

Integra stopped by the lake and her thoughts stopped with her. There was a slight fog sitting on the surface of the lake, but that only added to the majestic feel the lake gave off. It was said its waters could calm all who see the lake, and the water itself had healing powers. Integra was never calmed by the lake and she could never call upon its healing powers, if indeed it had any.

Scowling Integra bent, picked up a medium sized stone, and chucked it into the clear blue water. She watched the ripples until they were gone and kept her eyes on the water for several seconds more before she continued on her way. Integra walked to the edge of the lake and continued south, the voice of her aunt creeping back into her mind.

_"Soon after the extermination of the dragons the different branches of mystical creatures began going their separate ways. Many set up separate kingdoms for their branches. Humans stayed connected to the villages and neighboring castles, and most families separated into light and dark kingdoms. _

_Only light wielding sorcerers and sorceresses are found living freely on the land now, and witches and wizards are numerous for the dark wielders. Goblins are forbidden from entering populated areas and it is the same for the demon population. Not one group can live with any other group for any period of time for fear of beginning another war." _

_ "This is currently untrue at the time. Nine years after the war people began living closer to one another; however every being still lived in fear of starting another war. At one point some years later kings and royalty began hiring lesser demons and weaker dark magic users to serve them. Many light users and almost all stronger dark magic users call these unfortunate beings Dog Servants._

_ Lesser than servants and lesser still than many dogs who roam the streets., they are treated very poorly by most of the royalty who employ them and are shunned by all, even their own kind. They even view themselves as dogs, but when you're starving and your family is dying all around you that's all you have to hold onto."_

Integra tightened her cloak around her, the cold of the night still trying to be beaten away by the strong rays of the sun. Two minutes later Integra left the lake behind her continuing south towards a low sweeping mountain range. One small part of her, microscopic in fact, did not want to do this. The girl had not done anything wrong, she was just drawn towards Prince Blake, and Integra did not see any connection between the two.

The Prince was very beautiful, and it was not uncommon to see other women express their feelings openly, but this girl infuriated her in ways no other person had ever done. The girl was a threat; there was no other reason that could stop Integra now. Soon her aunt's voice sounded inside her head once more.

"_There appeared a legend, of sorts, some time after the separation. Getting right down to it the story goes…"_

Integra's own mind relayed the ancient legend: _When light and darkness separate, in both body and soul, the world will meet certain doom unless the two halfs can coexist together in peace. The people of light, with powers of the brightest sun and as dominating as the strongest of warriors, can subdue the blackest of hearts and shine light on the darkest nights. The people of darkness, their demonic magic of the deepest shadow and their overpowering will of the beast can overcome the purest souls and bring death to all living things. The two powers, however different they may be, must come together when the land calls for their aid or all with perish._

_Integra stopped the legend in her mind as she made it to the base of the slopes. She raised a hand and a fireball flew out and slammed against the side of one of the rocks. A few minutes later a young man with silver hair and green eyes walked out from behind the rock she had hit._

"What business do you have here, witch?" he called.

Integra scowled at him, she did not like being on the receiving end of rude comments, especially when the one talking to her is younger than she.

"I wish to speak with Topaz." she said coldly.

The man returned with a scowl of his own and demanded, "What business do you have with her?"

"I have work for her." she replied trying to keep herself as calm as possible.

The Jeweled Assassins did not like being bothered unless money was involved, and they certainly did not like it when their clients talked back to them. Integra did not know if the man she was looking at was a member or a guard, so she kept her mouth shut.

"Wait here." he said and disappeared behind the boulder.

She took a deep breath, turned, and launched a fireball at the furthest tree. As soon as it hit the tree burst into flames and was burned away in seconds. She took another deep breath and finished the legend in her mind.

The two powers cannot come together on their own, and so a warrior will rise. However, another must teach the warrior how to use his power. It cannot be said if the warrior will be one of light or darkness but one thing is certain, the chosen one will be the one to destroy the land if his destiny is not set on the right path.

Integra narrowed her eyes, Prince Blake thought that the girl was the chosen one, but that was impossible. Legends are not true, they are meant to be told to children to frighten them or to try to scare friends. True the girl's power was impressive, but it was nowhere near as strong as the legend foretells.

The man returned and called, "Come."

Integra turned back and began walking up the slight slope. She was inches away from him before he turned and led her into a dimly lit cavern. They walked down a narrow hall and were greeted by a very large room. The room had several huge piles of gold and silver coins and on the far wall sat a stone chair with a young woman sitting with her legs crossed.

"Integra!" she called, "It's been far too long, come." Integra walked with the man to the base of the chair. "It's fine Yuzu, Integra is one of our most trusted employers." the woman stated with a smile. Yuzu bowed and walked over to a slightly older man.

"That is a Jewel?" Integra questioned skeptically.

"Yes, that is Emerald. He is our youngest member yet. Now Integra, what brings you here?" the girl asked pushing her black hair away from her face.

"I require your assistance, yesterday a girl came to the castle. I need you to eliminate her." Integra stated coldly.

The girl laughed hardily and replied, "Oh my Integra, are you growing soft? Can't you even kill a harmless little girl?"

Her laughter echoed through the cavern before Integra could say a word. She waited for her laughter to die away before she continued, "That's the thing, she's not harmless. She has powers beyond your imagination."

The woman grew serious and asked, "And you ask us to take care of her?"

Integra nodded and replied, "I would do it myself but the Prince would confront me about it no doubt."

The woman smiled coyly and stated, "You want to look like an innocent hero in his eyes. Well, we'll do the job but it will cost you greatly, you know our precautions for doing jobs inside the castle grounds."

Integra withdrew the six pieces of silver from her pocket and handed them to the woman saying, "Yes, I know. This is just a down payment, when the job is done you will get eighteen more pieces of silver and four pieces of gold."

The woman took the pieces of silver and replied, "Gold as well? This must be serious."

A voice drifted from the other side of the room, "So are we killing her?" Integra turned to see a pair of bright red eyes shining from the shadows.

"Kill her, eat her, do what ever like. Just get her out of my way." she replied coldly.

The woman laughed once again and said, "We have our work cut out for us boys! Integra, we will need two days to prepare."

Integra nodded and replied, "That's fine, how many of the Assassins are you brining?"

The woman motioned with a hand and three men walked out, the one who led her into the room, the one he was standing with, and the one standing in the shadows with red eyes. "I, Ruby, Emerald, and Sapphire will be all we need."

Integra's face hardened as she asked, "Are you certain four will be enough?"

"Yes, I may bring a fifth but I do not think it will be necessary." she replied smiling.

Integra nodded, turned, and stated, "Thank you, Topaz; I will make arrangements so you get into the castle grounds without running into the guards." Integra walked back out of the cavern and made her way out into the warming air.

Back in the cavern the man with red eyes questioned, "Tami, are you sure this is a good idea? The last time we had a job in the castle we lost one of our own."

Topaz looked at him and said, "Yes, I trust Integra. She is a very good friend and if anything goes wrong we will pull out."

The one called Emerald looked uneasy, his brothers were two of the warriors in the castle and the thought of them facing made him sick. Topaz dismissed the three men and they each left to begin their own preparations for the next job. Looking at the pieces of silver given to her by Integra Topaz took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She opened them the next second and went off to make preparations of her own.


End file.
